June 11, 2007
Guru spotted this extraordinary full-page advertisement from Tesco in the weekend papers.
The supermarket chain spent thousands of pounds publicly wishing one of its customer assistants, Keith Jack, "all the best" in the final of the BBC talent-stroke-reality show Any Dream Will Do - in which dozens of effeminate young men auditioned live for the lead role of Joseph in Andrew LLoyd Webber's West-End musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.
Britain's number one retailer was plainly hoping some of Keith's stardust would rub off on its own business.
But, sadly, Keith's dream just 'didn't do' - as he came second to winner Lee Mead. In the words of Joseph himself: "Close every door to me."
So, for one young man, it's back to packing customers' bags and showing old people where the cling film is.
And for Tesco comes the realisation that, unusually, it got it wrong and backed a loser. But at least the company can now save some of the money it wasted on this ad by not having to recruit Keith's replacement.
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Comments (6)
He he. Very good. But "effeminate"?!!
It's 2007 for goodness sake!
Having said that - in the business it's known as Any Queen Will Do.
Posted by West End Whinger | June 11, 2007 10:24 AM
Posted on June 11, 2007 10:24
I think you clearly missed the point on this one.
What does it say about an employer who takes out a full page add to support one of it's employees - makes me think that's a good employer and the sort of business I'd like to work for.
It must have cost a lot but i think it will be worth it for the prestige Tesco will gain not only as an employer but also a good company to shop at.
Posted by steve wright | June 13, 2007 11:38 AM
Posted on June 13, 2007 11:38
'Loser' finishing second only to someone already doing the job as an understudy is hardly backing a loser. Well done to Keith for getting so far and well done to Tesco for have the bottle to actually back one of their own employees.
Posted by John | June 13, 2007 5:43 PM
Posted on June 13, 2007 17:43
I have to say that I find this blog to be very unprofessional and objectionable, especially coming from an organisation which is in support of the HR profession.
As HR professionals we are supposed to protect employees from potential discrimination.
What gives Guru the right to categorise that all the contestants were 'effeminate'? I find this term offensive and extremely judgemental. If you support this type of bigoted generalisation of what was a group of talented young men who aspire to become actors, then this is a very poor reflection on your organisation.
How do you expect discrimination to ever be reduced if you allow comments like this to be made ?
I'm all for humour, but not if it is going to be offensive and target people unfairly.
Posted by Craig Pattison FCIPD | June 20, 2007 3:57 PM
Posted on June 20, 2007 15:57
I also noticed that Carphone Warehouse posted a full page ad last weekend in support of Paul Potts, who went on to win Britain's Got Talent.
I support West End Whinger's view on this, in that it is good to see a company support their colleague!
Posted by Old witch in the corner | June 22, 2007 4:48 PM
Posted on June 22, 2007 16:48
Okay, okay. It seems Guru has misjudged the mood of the country on this one.
However, where was the full page weekend newspaper ad from Personnel Today when Guru won the karaoke competition at The Red Lion the other week?
Posted by Guru | June 25, 2007 8:55 AM
Posted on June 25, 2007 08:55