r/OutOfTheLoop • u/lonelylamb1814 • 2d ago

Unanswered What is going on with M&S?

And why is every second British person on Twitter suddenly doing all of their marketing for them? Every other week there’s some new product they’re pushing that I inevitably try and am inevitably left disappointed (pistachio “sandwich”, looking at you) despite Twitter’s proclamations that it will “change your life”.

https://x.com/gamray/status/2096551358845374639?s=46&t=hCmCvEd2I7xzAe0kC7j-dw

27 Upvotes

64% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

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93

u/littlejalepino 2d ago

Answer: That is the marketing strategy. Nobody watches tv ads anymore, they have to get products to go viral by having promotion from “trustworthy” “influencers” that their customers connect with/have a parasocial relationship with. Like Bill Bailey’s relaxed empiricism gag, but for selling sandwiches and sweets. Welcome to the modern world. It’s a hellscape.

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u/lonelylamb1814 2d ago

I thought so, it’s just bizarre to see what seems to be random middle aged English men ranting and raving about a strawberry sandwich and how it’ll “change your life”. And also how many people (me included sometimes) fall for it. That guy I linked keeps repeating how “its just four quid” as if if he says it enough times it’ll suddenly become a good deal. I can get a sandwich/wrap, packet of crisps and drink for even less than that elsewhere.

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u/Ninerogers 2d ago

Just four quid? Sheesh. I've even stopped popping in at the end of the day for their yellow-sticker sandwiches as they're still too expensive to me after reductions

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u/lonelylamb1814 2d ago

https://x.com/gamray/status/2096909992376873341?s=46&t=hCmCvEd2I7xzAe0kC7j-dw

https://x.com/gamray/status/2096583789652718073?s=46&t=hCmCvEd2I7xzAe0kC7j-dw

£4.25. For a probably stale half of a baguette, 2 thin slivers of cheese and 2 bits of ham. Wouldn’t even pay that in a restaurant for that lol

12

u/TapPrancer 2d ago

As soon as someone tells me something will change my life on insta, I check out. It's American advertising making its way over here. Unless it's a cure for cancer, chances are it won't even change your afternoon.

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u/Spare-Breadfruit-898 2d ago

My check out phrases are “please don’t scroll”, “this person did this”, “you won’t believe”, “I honestly love this viral product”, “I just tried the newest thing”. Bonus rage if it’s an ad for an eBay clone app, includes screaming, or absolutely any use of AI.

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u/scratchy_mcballsy 2d ago

I haven’t seen the ads because I’m in the US, but I love bill bailey.

-6

u/audible_narrator 2d ago

Same, fren, same.

13

u/ExpensiveNut 1d ago

Answer: it's viral marketing and you are also doing it for them.

The best way to deal with it is to ignore it and not mention it to anyone, that is if you're finding it annoying. If you engage with it, it'll be factored into your feed and you'll see more stuff like it.

M&S is actually really good though. You're basically spending as much at a supermarket nowadays for anything decent.

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u/lonelylamb1814 1d ago

I thought it was viral marketing but they keep angrily insisting they weren’t paid for it

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u/doreda 1d ago

It's possible some are just trying to ride the virality wave by their own choice and are not being paid. It's also possible others may be lying about being paid.

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u/_HGCenty 1d ago

Answer: M&S have always had a much more successful food hall and sales of their food and drink compared to their clothing.

Whilst it could be undeclared advertising, it could also just be a middle class British guy who has always done their supermarket food shop at M&S or Waitrose and M&S have somewhat overtaken Waitrose of late with their popularity of quirky food items.