After a torrid 22 months, you would think that most people would be pleased to have hospitality staff serving their every need; sadly it seems that all too often this is not the case.
According to a recent study, two-fifths (41%) of hospitality staff are concerned customers will be ruder this festive season, and a similar proportion have reported that rude behaviour among customers has got worse since lockdown measures lifted earlier this year.
Enter a new campaign for Stella Artois by Mother London which enlists possibly one of the rudest men on the planet, Marco Pierre White, to, er, encourage respectful behaviour in restaurants, bars, pubs and clubs across the country.
The spot opens with White sitting alone in a boozer reading a paper. Turning straight to the camera, the fiery chef slams down the paper and exclaims: “Britain, what the f…” but before the expletive comes out the camera switches to a chink of a Stella glass being pulled off the shelf.
Back to White: “Hospitality staff have had a enough of people sh….” before the camera shifts again, this time to the glass being filled. White continues: “So next time, be polite, don’t be a tw….” again the focus switches back to the glass, now being “topped off”. White concludes: “Order a Stella, please. Manners cost you nothing.”
In fact, just to show how much Stella cares about front of house staff, customers at selected pubs across London, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle and Newport can receive £1 off their pint by saying “Can I have a Stella, please” when placing their order. (In London, that could mean a pint of Stella for less than a tenner if you are lucky.)
Anyway for each pint ordered, a donation by Stella Artois (amount not specified) will also be made to Hospitality Action to support hospitality workers during their busiest season in years.
The campaign is the latest initiative from Stella Artois to support the hospitality industry and workers as they continue to get back to work since the end of lockdown. When pubs reopened nationwide earlier in the year, the brewer launched “Stella Tips”, giving out £500,000 in tips to hospitality staff in UK pubs – with staff offered £1 for each pint of Stella they pulled.
White said: “Over the years I have witnessed my team be on the receiving end of rude and unnecessary behaviour from customers. And today, in the lead up to a very busy Christmas period, I would like to proudly stand alongside the hospitality industry and do my bit and say ‘please be polite’. Wishing everyone a happy Christmas.”
Stella Artois global vice president Tim Ovadia added: “Christmas can be a difficult time of year for hospitality workers, even more so this year with many preparing for an unpredictable, yet their busiest festive season in years.
“We wanted to raise awareness on the pressure the hospitality workers may face this season and our research shows how small acts of kindness from the public really can go a long way for them. This is an industry that is very dear to us and our Stella Please campaign further builds on the initiatives we have run over the past year to best support hospitality staff whatever the challenges being faced.”
So, what is the consensus around the Decision Marketing office?
Of course, there will be scores of former Marco Pierre White staff who will be left wondering why he could not have afforded them some kindness, but hey that’s the point. After all, it takes one to know one and when even Marco – a man who is alleged to have made Gordon Ramsey cry – thinks it’s too much, things must be bad.
Here at the Decision Marketing Nerve Centre we applaud anything that supports hospitality workers. Like most people, we’ve been there, done that and got the T-shirt, so we feel their pain. So, to finish it off for Marco, don’t be a twat.
Decision Marketing Adometer: A “just don’t mention wife beater” 8 out of 10
