lurpak and basil biscuits

Lurpak is my butter brand of choice – I’m definitely an unsalted girl, just like my dad.

I also like herbs and grew up with plenty of Boursin in the fridge – du pain, du vin, du Boursin…natch.

So, when I spotted some new looking Lurpak packaging in my local Sainsbury’s I was intrigued. Mmm, basil flavoured butter, now that sounds good.

But when I got it home, it wasn’t a new variant. It was free basil seeds attached to the pack. So far OK… except, as you’ll see from this picture, the seeds come in a cookie-style format.  God, what were they thinking? Everyone in the office thought I was making a big deal of this…who, they thought, would be so stupid as to mistake the ‘seed cookie’ for actual food!

But now I feel totally vindicated. This Metro piece explains how old people have mistakenly bitten into the ‘seed cookie’ and been most alarmed.

I bet families with young kids up and down the country are facing similar ‘hide the biscuit’ fears. Talk about a tempting treat for toddlers.

How could Lurpak have made such a fundamental error? The ‘free seeds’ message is admittedly on the pack, but not directly obvious. From a top down view on shelf in the supermarket (see below), you simply don’t see it. And detached from the pack, the ‘seed cookie’ is at first glance just that, a cookie, uncannily similar to a favourite brand, except in a bite-size version.

OK, they might have been experimenting with new ways to communicate ‘free with’ on pack, and it’s great to see new takes on such activity, but sometimes only the direct approach will do.

It also smacks of a young brand manager who simply cannot imagine what it might be like to cope with failing eyesight or to deal with toddlers at home who are into everything.

By the year 2020, almost half of the UK population will be over the age of 50. It’s going to be a major issue for all brands, and not just around product design and concept. It will reach into every aspect of how the brand is communicated, and that includes promotional activity too. Lurpak, take note.