One of the more obvious phenomenons in UK supermarkets this summer (if the past rain-lashed three months can actually be termed a ‘summer’) is that there’s nothing a large conglomerate likes more than the opportunity to cash in on just about any event going. Usually it’s football tournaments (for as long as it takes for England to get knocked out on penalties, or by the Germans), very occasionally other sports (Rugby World Cup, the Ashes) and or course we all love a good Royal Wedding. This year they’ve had three bites of the marketing cherry, with the Diamond Jubilee, Euro 2012 tournament (knocked out by Italy this time – on penalties, of course !) and finally the London Olympics.
The result of this is that just about anything that can be branded, marketed or tied in, has been. There are the obvious official products plastered with Olympic logos, or if it’s not official then it’s festooned with Union Jacks, or failing that, let’s just make it red, white and blue ! Clothes, cakes, sweets, even bottles of shampoo have union jacks across the label.
So never let it be said that we passed up the opportunity to shamelessly jump on the bandwagon ourselves ! We popped down to Tesco, bought some coloured cakes and now we can feel part of the whole Olympic cash-in. And in time-honoured Brigade tradition, we are of course far too late and behind everyone else …
Read what we though of Mr Kipling’s ultra-patriotic red, white and blue British Fancies by clicking on the picture below.
About the only “blue” food I can think of in British Cuisine is Stilton.