Woolies Ends ANZAC Day Campaign

[icyfroth]

Woolworths takes down Anzac 'Fresh in our Memories' website after social media backlash

Supermarket giant Woolworths has ended a controversial Anzac Day campaign that saw the company's logo and the phrase "Fresh in our Memories" placed over the images of former soldiers.

The campaign, which the supermarket chain insisted was not a marketing move, drew strong criticisms on social media and sparked memes that hijacked the concept.

Late on Tuesday Woolworths took down its Fresh in Our Memories website.

"We regret that our branding on the picture generator has caused offense, this was clearly never our intention," Woolworths said in a statement.

Entire Article Here

What Woolworths marketing guru ever thought it would be ok to use Australia's most revered and emotive event in the history of the country as a marketing opportunity?

For Shame.

[azureline**]

No. The one where you buy the paper and get coins to collect

[nevynreally]

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@*julia*2010 wrote:

while the Woolworths logo could have been left off, how is it disrespectful to show respect for Anzac Day?

i think you have answered your own question

but Jo Hawkins explains it nicely:

The supermarket giant this week launched a website that invited Australians to share memories of war veterans and upload a commemorative profile picture to social media. The site included a meme generator, which branded images of war dead with the Woolworths logo and tagline, "Fresh In Our Memories" - a staggeringly misguided pun evoking their corporate slogan "The Fresh Food People".

Despite Woolworths' assertion that the initiative was "not a marketing campaign", there is little doubt the site was designed to produce branded consumer-generated content, and encourage Australians to share this content on their social networks. It is likely that Woolworths aspired to tap into public sentiment before Anzac Day – with the aim of generating likes, brand engagement , and a strong emotional connection with consumers.

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Is it possible that someone who had a say so also had someone at Gallipoli? I think those social media just sits like hawks waiting to be outraged.

Newsflash for Jo Hawkins, Both superamarket giants are out to bring in customers. But sometimes, they may just want to pay tribute. It may be misguided, but you sit at your computer and make a judgement on that decision, made usually by someone who's been promoted above their pay rate and lets all boycott that company. I buy where ever is cheapest. Don't give a toss about their marketing.

[gleee58]

The substitutions I saw were funny, not offensive.  I saw no Hitler but did see Grumpy Cat.

[gleee58]

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@azureline** wrote:
Hmmm........ what about the Courier Mail and the Anzac coin collection?
Why is no one upset over that one?

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Apparently they got permission to use the name, worked with the mint and agreed to donate the profits to a specific charity first, according to reports I've read.

[watta*drama*queen]

 .....it was the disgusting actions of some on social media who superimposed pictures of Hitler, that grumpy cat and other inappropriate images together with totally insensitive and mindless changing of captions .......

to which I primarily objected.  They were the ones showing total disrespect for the ANZACS and unfortunately Woolworths use of a picture generator in the hope it would get greater traction more easily facilitated that.  Their use of 'fresh' which is clearly part of their (questionably accurate) advertising mantra and used to capitalise on that association imo was tasteless and tacky. 

[lyndal1838]

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@*julia*2010 wrote:

while the Woolworths logo could have been left off, how is it disrespectful to show respect for Anzac Day?

i think you have answered your own question

but Jo Hawkins explains it nicely:

The supermarket giant this week launched a website that invited Australians to share memories of war veterans and upload a commemorative profile picture to social media. The site included a meme generator, which branded images of war dead with the Woolworths logo and tagline, "Fresh In Our Memories" - a staggeringly misguided pun evoking their corporate slogan "The Fresh Food People".

Despite Woolworths' assertion that the initiative was "not a marketing campaign", there is little doubt the site was designed to produce branded consumer-generated content, and encourage Australians to share this content on their social networks. It is likely that Woolworths aspired to tap into public sentiment before Anzac Day – with the aim of generating likes, brand engagement , and a strong emotional connection with consumers.

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I have no idea who Jo Hawkins is but what s/he has said is a load of rubbish as far as I am concerned.   I have acknowledged that the logo was a mistake, but as far as branding images of war dead is concerned.....sorry, but that young soldier looks very much alive to me.

I really do not see what all the fuss is about......if you don't like it just ignore it.  It is not compulsory to complain about every little thing that you don't like on social media sites.

And before you say I have no respect for Anzac Day or the armed services, think again. 

My great uncle served in WW2 and suffered for the rest of his life after being gassed.  My first husband was in the RAN and went to Vietnam 3 times and my daughter was in the Army Reserve.

We all commemorate Anzac Day in our own way and have our own ideas of what is appropriate.  I don't have a problem with what Woolworths did except for the logo.

[Anonymous]

oh dear.....

i have absolutely no intention to boycott

the company.

i agree that there has been an overreaction

by some groups/individuals.

while i don't believe woolworths intended 

to cause any offense, i do not believe that

the primary concern when developing this

campaign - was remembering the ANZACs.

incorporating the company's  slogan and logo

should not have been a consideration.

[Anonymous]

I have no idea who Jo Hawkins is but what s/he has said is a load of rubbish as far as I am concerned. 

sorry forgot to include the link 

(i think you will agree with the rest of

the article)

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/why-limit-anzac-marketing-outrage-to-woolworths-20150415-1mldj5.html

I don't have a problem with what Woolworths did except for the logo.

yes, that is what caused the criticism and the

fact that woolworths did not ask permission to

use the protected ANZAC in their campaign.

but as far as branding images of war dead is concerned.....sorry, but that young soldier looks very much alive to me.

regarding that image - something i just learnt:

(and some more info plus the hitler meme

i hadn't seen before)

He's the mysterious young soldier who is referred to by WWI historians simply as the 'Handsome Man'.

But the unknown digger has been drawn into the centre of an Anzac Day controversy after his image was used to front Woolworths' 'Fresh in our memories' ad campaign, which has been slammed for commercialising the centenary of Anzac and forcibly shut down by the government.

Little is known about the man pictured wearing a uniform and slouch hat.

He was a soldier of the First Australian Imperial Force, and his photograph was taken sometime between 1915 and 1918 in Sydney, before he embarked for service.

The studio portrait of the Handsome Man was featured in a 2008 Australian War Memorial (AWM) exhibition titled Icon and Archive, with the AWM appealing to the public to help identify him.

Since then the AWM received a lot of responses from people with possible identifications but none have been correct.

Last week, Woolworths launched its 'Fresh in our Memories' campaign and website, which attracted a barrage of criticism from customers accusing the company of trying to cash in on Anzac Day.

The campaign invites Aussies to create a profile picture and cover photo for their Facebook page, in memory of the service men and women of World War I, complete with the Woolworths logo and a 'Fresh in our memories' slogan.

In February this year, the advertising agency hired by Woolworths to create their Anzac campaign - Carrspace - contacted the AWM asking for images of soldiers.

The AWM said it gave the company four image options, including three different soldiers and a nurse. But Carrspace chose instead to use the striking image of the Handsome Man, without seeking permission.

An AWM spokesman said: 'The terms and conditions provided to anyone using Memorial images specifies that images are not to be cropped, overprinted or altered in any way without the prior written approval of the Memorial.

'The agency has not provided the final images and product to the Memorial for its approval before publication which is in breach of these terms and conditions.' 

The AWM spokesman added that Carrspace claimed to be working on a campaign in conjunction with Camp Gallipoli and the Returned Services League.

But RSL chief Sam Jackson told Daily Mail Australia the organisation was not consulted over the campaign, and Camp Gallipoli chief Chris Fox said he had never heard of Carrspace and had no association with them.

Woolworths and Carrspace also failed to seek permission from the Department of Veterans' Affairs to use the word 'Anzac' for commercial purposes, as is required by law. The company could face fines of up to $50,000 for breaching this rule.

A Carrspace spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia that all inquiries must go through Woolworths. 

Earlier on Tuesday the company took down and then reactivated its Twitter account. It also deleted information about its partnership with Woolworths from the company website. 

A Woolworths spokesman said the company was standing by a statement released on Tuesday night when the 'Fresh in our memories' website was taken down.

Minister for Veterans' Affairs Michael Ronaldson slammed Woolworths for its unauthorised use of the word 'Anzac' in an ad and said he forced the company to take the website down.

'The Australian community quite rightly expects that the word "Anzac" is not trivialised or used inappropriately and as Minister for Veterans' Affairs, I am responsible for ensuring that any use of the word "Anzac" does not provide commercial benefit to an organisation,' Minister Ronaldson said. 

'In this instance, permission was not sought by the campaign proponents, nor would it have been approved.'

Minister Ronaldson became aware of it when consumers branded the website 'disrespectful' and 'disgusting'.

'While I acknowledge that Woolworths moved quickly to address the situation, I hope this is a reminder to others that the regulations are in place for good reason and that they will be rigorously enforced,' he said.

RSL chief Sam Jackman said the organisation was not consulted over the campaign by Woolworths or Carrspace, adding that she was concerned over the commercialisation of anything to do with Anzac Day.

'They made an error of judgement in using it in the first place and they recognised that pretty quickly,' Mrs Jackman said.

She added that the supermarket had been a longstanding financial supporter of veterans' organisations.

Camp Gallipoli chief Chris Fox said Woolworths is the principle sponsor of the RSL ANZAC Flame for Camp Gallipoli events this year, which will be held around Australia and New Zealand on April 24 and 25 and will see members of the public camp out to honour the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3039212/Woolworths-face-50-000-fine-unauthorised-use-word-An...

[lyndal1838]

I have to admit the whole article makes a lot more sense than just a selected few paragraphs.

But it seems to me that the entity to blame is not Woolworths but the advertising agency that they paid to do a job.   When you pay as much money as Woolworths did to have a campaign prepared then you expect them to do the job properly and follow the rules.

It has been acknowledged that Woolworths pulled the picture very quickly when they were made aware of the problems.

As for the idiots that posted pictures of Hitler etc....well that is hardly Woolworths fault.

I still stand by what I said earlier.....I did not find the picture offensive but do question the wisdom of the Woolworths logo on it.

Like a lot of businesses Woolworths is involved in fund raising for Legacy and other armed services charities....I have just seen an ad on the TV for Westpac raising funds.   Has anyone complained about that?

I have been bombarded by ads on the TV for Camp Gallipoli.  After investigating their website I am far more appalled at the fundraising going on there under the auspices of the government/RSL and other authorities than I ever was  over the Woolworths effort.

[iapetus_rocks]

, , , When you pay as much money as Woolworths did to have a campaign prepared then you expect them to do the job properly and follow the rules. . .

And when you pay as much money as Woolworths did, you'd expect them to review the advertising item before it was released.

It's an oversight I bet they're kicking themselves now for.