Illustration from the Fair Flags Campaign site.We have some old VHS video cassettes taped from TV in the early 1980s, and one of the most oft-repeated advertisements is that for Country Life English Butter.
Remember the cartoon yokels?
"Oh we are the lads from Country Life and you'll never put a better bit of butter on your knife, if you 'aven't any in 'ave a word with the wife and spread it on your toast in the morning! Oh it's English, fresh and creamy too..."
English? Not any more it isn't. Country Life Butter is now "British":
A British claim enables us to credibly use the British flag within communications without causing confusion. The British flag has a more positive association with consumers than the English flag.
Eh? But the British flag is the chosen flag of the odious and highly racist BNP!!
See? This is their logo.
And how dare Dairy Crest, manufacturers of Country Life, suggest that England's national flag, the Cross of St George, is not as positive as the Union Flag, with all its imperialistic/racist connotations?
A couple of us here were partial to a bit of Country Life.
Not any more. We strongly recommend that this anti-England/anti-English product is now boycotted. It is not enough for the company to remove the "English" tag from the product - it also casts slurs upon our national flag and opines that the flag used by a racist organisation is superior.
Huge hat- tip to The Fair Flags Campaign.
Happy days - 1981 newspaper ad for Country Life English Butter.
In response to the standard email they sent me - this is what I emailed back...
ReplyDeleteDear Debbie Williams / Dairy Crest -
Re your reply - 'The reason we have changed the packaging on Country Life products is because our milk comes from all over Britain, not only England and therefore we cannot make claims that the milk is English'....
That would be fair enough if you were selling milk - but you are not!
As you have not answered my original question about whether the butter is made in England - I can only assume it is - as is confirmed on your web site.
You take the raw material of 'British' milk and make it into butter - in a plant in England (Crudgington, in ENGLAND near Telford to be precise). The
butter is therefore English as it has been manufactured in England - much as an Eccles Cake is English -even though it uses currants originally grown in Spain - the end result is English confectionary..
And what about Scotch Whisky? - They import raw materials from the rest of the UK and even Europe to make their product - so shouldn't, using your logic, they be calling it 'Britch or Euritch Whisky'?
Country Life butter is English butter, end of.
After all, the term 'English Butter' is generic in the industry - much like the English Pub, Welsh Lamb, Irish Stout, English Apples, English Beer........ and Scotch Whisky.
And regarding the British flag usage - why would you want to use that? It isn't nicknamed the 'Butcher's Apron' for nothing, is it? And last time I looked, it was being used as part of the logo for the BNP.
How 'very positive' is that?
Or is the real reason for dumping 'English' in favour of 'British' simply to make your product a little more palatable for those anti-English people in Scotland and Wales? After all, it's the stated reason that Tesco don't have a St George's flag on any of their own brand products, so have you come under pressure from the great bully of the High Street? Is the objective to
increase sales in both Scotland and Wales through Tesco stores - and the only way to do that is to ditch all associations with England?
Unfortunately, this will backfire as the word is out amongst the English-buying public (you know, we're the ones, who are 85% of your UK market) - in future, all products bearing the name 'British' is being viewed as
anti-English and will be boycotted - the movement is growing in England, whatever Gordon Brown, Sir Terry Leahy and the rest of their willing little
helpers think about it.
Still, not to worry, you'll still have the other 15% of the UK population to rely on!
I will not be buying Country Life British Butter again, nor to be honest, will I buy any other of your product range. I will not support an anti-English company - and I shall do my utmost to make sure my friends and extended family take similar action.
The word is spreading (pardon the pun) - England is not 'Britain-Lite' - and the sooner Brown, Leahy and your Marketing Director realise this, the better.
I shall be sending a letter of complaint to the Chief Executive of Dairy Crest.
Yours....