Some people just don’t recognise sarcasm – my bizarre conversation with Nationwide's ad agency
I think this email conversation with Golley Slater, the ad agency for Nationwide, pretty much explains itself.
- Email from it to me: (via our press contacts, which are only for press, even though they are not press)
“Good afternoon,
I am working on a Direct Mail pack for home insurance for Nationwide and we have come across a quote from Martin which would fit perfectly with our pack and the concept we are trying to communicate which is ‘Never auto-renew. Loyalty is expensive’.
We were wondering whether you would be comfortable with us quoting this in our pack? And if so, if you could let us know what we would need to do from here on to be able to use it.
Many thanks”
- My reply (which I had thought was dripping in layers of sarcasm):
“You can absolutely use it as long as we get firm commitment that Nationwide will never auto-renew any of its customers for any of its products.
If not then you can use ‘Never auto-renew. Loyalty is expensive. This includes Nationwide products, don’t let it screw you at renewal’.
Kind regards,
Martin”
- Its response:
“Hi Martin,
If we are unable to get commitment that Nationwide will never auto-renew any of its customers, are we able to use part of the quote in our pack:
‘Never auto-renew. Loyalty is expensive.’
Many thanks”
- My reply:
“Nope then you have to use this full statement:
‘Never auto-renew. Loyalty is expensive. This includes Nationwide products, don’t let it screw you at renewal'”
Oh well, if that doesn’t help it get the point, hopefully this blog will.
PS. While most people have found this amusing, a few have commented “they were just being professional”. Do remember this is a paid-for agency wanting to use my reputation to bolster it’s clients, even though this would be totally hypocritical as it’s client does exactly what I campaign against.
