madcomments

Celebrities slag-off Burberry

Posted in General, Marketing February 2nd, 2007 by Nikki Preston

Burberry showed the world that it didn’t give a damn about the workers in Wales when it opted to close its Treorchy factory several months ago, and again I am sure it wasn’t the protesters the brand owner was worried about when it made the decision today to back out of sponsoring the pre-Bafta party.

It was of course the celebrities, or more to the point the lack of celebrities showing up, which I’m sure really fuelled the company’s decision to axe the sponsorship. In its mind it was better to do it now before giving the actors a chance to slag off the event.

Dame Judi Dench had already said she wouldn’t be there and going by the very publicly voiced views of actors Ioan Gruffudd, Rhys Ifans and Emma Thompson - who have sided with the workers – they were also very unlikely to make an appearance. Burberry’s PR team can breathe a sigh of relief - they have managed to divert the crisis…for now anyway.

The fashion brand has stated that closing the Welsh factory was meant to be a cost cutting exercise, but it has also resulted in being a celebrity cutting exercise. Not a good call for Burberry who produces such pricey goods that only the rich and famous can afford it.

However, not all celebrities are as righteous as the aforementioned actors. Burberry model Kate Moss hasn’t ended her contract with the brand even though she probably earns more for one shoot, than the workers do in a whole year. And I am sure I spotted Sienna Miller wearing a Burberry dress in a magazine just this week – although she was later spotted just wearing her knickers so perhaps that’s her way of making a statement against the fashion house.