The most
irritating byproduct of Kate Middleton expecting another baby is the shameless
promotional tie-in.
It was the same
the first time around. No sooner was her pregnancy announced, or Prince George born, than scores of companies leapt on the bandwagon. Marketing consultants
across the UK rubbed their hands together with glee at the prospect of not
having to burn brain cells thinking of an imaginative way to promote their
product. They only had to stick the words ‘ROYAL BABY’ at the top of
their press release for their work to be done.
My favourite
examples are the ones that don’t even attempt to assimilate the story. Take
this email I received last year, from the rail company London Midland:
That subject must
have taken milliseconds to come up with. Why did they feel the need to make the
connection? People will still travel by train, regardless of a change to the line of royal succession. News of an 8% discount was enough of a reason
to warrant the mail out.
Today, news broke
of baby number two, to much the same affect. A quick search of the royal baby
hashtag on Twitter brings out a string of thinly-veiled adverts from the likes
of River Island, Pizza Express, Moonpig and more. Anyone would think a woman had ever
been impregnated before.
Before long, some smart alec will write a blog about it too. Oh shit.