Saturday, 6 May 2023 – a momentous day. The crowning of a new Monarch. A day many thought we might never see (our new Queen Camilla being one of them!).
But amongst all the pomp, ceremony, celebratory quiches and street parties, how are some of our best loved brands choosing to mark the end of the ‘New Elizabethan Era’ and enter the ‘Carolean’ age?
Let’s take a look at a handful of examples…
Burger King have played a blinder, with a simple reworking of their retro-styled logo. By dropping the word ‘burger’ from the brand mark across their social channels and at their flagship restaurant in London’s Leicester Square, the inventors of the Whopper deserve huge kudos for their simple yet effective acknowledgement of Charles’ ascension to the throne.
BK also took over a number of digital billboards on key routes into the capital, welcoming the new King with the playful proclamation “From one to another”.
Referencing recent, well-publicised rifts in the Windsor family, self-proclaimed ‘rebellious’ wine brand, 19 Crimes, have staged a series of projections onto various London landmarks, as shown above.
Featuring provocative headlines including Harry & Meghan (or even Andrew), the projections read: “Invite the whole family (or don’t).”
The campaign sets out to reflect that dysfunctional families are the norm, not the exception, in 21st century Britain.
Not to be left out, Heinz has marked the start of the new Monarch’s reign by renaming their iconic red sauce. Each of the limited edition ‘Tomato Kingchup’ bottles are individually numbered, making every one a truly unique, collectable item.
Heinz also sent bottle #1 to the King himself, but reports that Charles was seen dolloping the sauce on his sandwiches at the private lunch held at the palace after the service have yet to be confirmed.
Putting a lovely twist on their long-running “Have a break…” concept, Kit-Kat chose to acknowledge the extra bank holiday in a beautifully simple execution. Adding a third finger to the iconic two finger bar, the headline summed up the nation’s gratitude in the line “Thanks for the extra break, Sir”.
Finally, perhaps one of the most poignant of our crop of Coronation ads has to be for The Alzheimer’s Society. Running in press, OOH and across social, the creative features a specially designed ‘Unmemorabilia’ mug, on which is printed a startling statistic, that the crowning of the King will be:
“A day one in three of us won’t be able to tell the grandkids about”.
Amongst the cute copy lines, smart art direction and neat strategic thinking, such a stark and honest fact really does stop you in your tracks.
And we can only hope that in doing so, the campaign achieves its clear and critical goal of raising awareness of the impact of dementia, while raising funds to help the Society continue its research into ending the devastation it causes for good.
