The middle classes are the new poor, reduced to shoplifting in Waitrose
09/11/2010

What with eroded savings, stealth taxes and the burden of supporting ageing parents on the one hand , and subsidising their grown-up children’s mortgages on the other, the beleaguered middle classes are having a hard time of it right now.

One’s heart goes out to the new shabby genteel who are reduced to shoplifting in Waitrose to cling desperately to their once comfortable lifestyle.  Some have even grit their teeth and resorted to shopping at Asda, who, perhaps in sympathy of their plight, have launched their new 4000 lines of quality branded goods (see my blog of 13 October).

Now Dixons have weighed in with a brilliant copy only campaign (guaranteed to get my support as a copywriter), which offers the best at bargain prices whilst taking a sly dig at its upmarket competitors.

Their ‘last place you want to shop’ campaign won a well-deserved Gold Award in the Campaign Big Awards this week.  The copy, by M&C Saatchi, read as follows:
“Get off at the fashionable end of Oxford Street, drift into the achingly cool technology hall of London’s most happening department store and view this year’s must-have plasma courtesy of the sound and vision technologist in the Marc Jacobs sandals … then go to Dixons.co.uk and buy it”.
See, you can still enjoy a quality retail experience and purchase the identical goods at a discount price (although it has to be admitted that a Dixon carrier bag may lack the cachet of that unmentioned West End store!)