Whatever you might think of him, Marco Pierre White is one of the most celebrated chefs of the last 50 years. An enfant terrible, a Michelin-wielding carrot-chopper, a corskcrew-haired nobhead. Whichever you subscribe to, the man has serious chops. Lamb, pork, facial and cooking.
So why would he do an advert praising Bernard Matthews turkey joints – the dryest of all-known meats? The stock cubes are one thing, but this? It’s the equivalent of Lewis Hamilton advertising Proton – widely acknowledged as building the worst cars in the West. Paul Hollywood advertising Tesco’s own-brand sliced thin white bread. Brian Sewell praising corporate art. Will Self advertising The Sun.
The thing is, adverts like this damage both parties, because bringing someone who really knows their stuff together with a brand that’s cheap and low-value is a jarring juxtaposition. It accentuates how cheap the brand is, and it makes the celeb look cheap for taking the shilling.
And then, Martin Kemp. To say that this is a bizarre, bad advert doesn’t really do it justice. But the comments on the Youtube page go some way – so I included them below.
You can usually judge the success of a campaign by its longevity. And where there was once an entire website where Marco Pierre White attempted to show that he really did like turkey -and there were really interesting recipes that involved it, all there is now is a 404.
Reminds me of a mob film. Really dark.
god this is piss poor. all those involved should be ashamed.
I can’t describe how much i hate this advert
‘When I have this at home,it’s as dry as f*ck.’ ‘It’s never the turkey, it’s always the cook’ ‘You having a go at Shirley from Pepsi and Shirley?! So technically, we dont need to go out and buy Bernard Matthews turkeys then, we can go and buy a tesco value turkey….that’s what they’re advertising?
‘That is absolutely delishush.’
Only the Turkeys like this advert….. because it’s not going to FUCKING SELL ANY IS IT?
Possibly the worst ad ever…
This advert perpetuates the stereotype of the wife automatically having the role of cook. Shame they weren’t talking while walking through one of Bernard Matthew’s turkey farms!
This scene would’ve been better as a mob film showing the turkey CEO handing a suitcase of cash to don marco in a business exchange allowing them to hock turkey on his turf.
• Here’s another where Marco advertises stock, which I suppose is a bit more cheffy than a bloody turkey crown.