Love Marmite, Hate the BNP (Image grabbed by P McC, thanks)The firm released a statement saying: "It has been brought to our attention that the British National Party has included a Marmite jar in a political broadcast shown currently online. We want to make it absolutely clear that Marmite did not give the BNP permission to use a pack shot of our product in their broadcast. Neither Marmite nor any other Unilever brand are aligned to any political party. We are currently initiating injunction proceedings against the BNP to remove the Marmite jar from the online broadcast and prevent them from using it in future."
The video was publicly available on the BNP's website this morning but now appears to have been removed. The Marmite jar appeared in the top left hand corner of the screen when party leader Nick Griffin was addressing viewers in the BNP's general election broadcast.
It provoked mixed opinion from contributors to a messageboard beneath the video, with several calling for the logo to be ditched but others praising it as a "brilliant" way to attract publicity.
Current advertising for Marmite is based around the slogan "love it or hate it" - an idea the BNP appears to have been trying to adopt. Marmite is owned by multinational company Unilever, whose other brands include PG Tips, Knorr and Vaseline.
Anti-BNP campaigners Hope not Hate said the reaction of BNP supporters calling for the jar's logo to be removed from the broadcast was virtually unprecedented, adding that contributions to the website are normally tightly controlled.
Spokesman Dan Hodges said: "In politics there is only one thing worse than being hated, and that's being mocked. Nick Griffin's Marmite broadcast has turned his party into a laughing stock, and it is quite clear his own members are not happy about it."
The Marmite jar is also featured at the end of the video, next to the party's logo and the slogan "Love Britain, Vote BNP".
The broadcast, which is almost five minutes long and is still available on video-sharing website YouTube, begins with an air-raid siren followed by Mr Griffin telling viewers he will not "flatter and deceive, to promise everything to everyone" but will "tell the truth about the terrible state of our country".
A voice-over warns that British people have become "second-class citizens", while footage of a woman in a burka walking towards a mosque is shown. It then makes a number of claims about asylum seekers, MPs' expenses and the EU, before calling for troops to be brought home from Afghanistan immediately.
Several BNP supporters give their reasons for choosing the party, before Mr Griffin again addresses the camera.
He says: "I will put British people first all the time, every time, and I don't care what the politicians and media liars say because of it. I tell the truth. So don't waste your vote - do the one thing that will really upset politicians: get your own back. Get up, get out and vote British National Party - then they will listen."
Comments submitted below the video on the BNP's website revealed split opinions among BNP supporters about the use of the logo.
Someone posting under the name 1redwhiteandblue wrote: "DITCH THE MARMITE. IT DISTRACTS FROM THE MESSAGE, THIS IS ABOUT THE BRITISH NATIONAL PARTY, NOT MARMITE, THE ENEMY WILL USE IT TO DISTRACT OUR MESSAGE."
Johnnyb wrote: "Good stuff, but like others have said, get rid of the Marmite logo. It distracts from the message and makes you look cheap. Ignore Marmite's silly campaign, concentrate on being a serious political party. The general public will not get irony. Please, please take it off, it will just distract from the serious issues. Apart from that, great video."
And Adam added: "The Marmite, please don't put that in."
But SBD said: "Didn't like the Marmite at first, but the more I think about it - BRILLIANT. It will get people talking and therefore watching - it will get publicity...If Marmite don't like it they may complain, then it'll be all over the papers. To victory."
And Disapointed (sic) posted: "Didn't get the Marmite thing at first, but now that I do, I think that it's great. Shows that we British still have a sense of humour."
Independent
22 comments:
Wow, talk about spin!
“The clip shown last night on the BNP website is essentially the actual broadcast, but apparently one of the people to whom we had given the broadcast to review, inserted the Marmite jars in reaction to the disgraceful smear advertising campaign being run by Unilever, which smeared and spoofed the BNP and its Euro 2009 TV broadcast,” Mr Griffin said.
Yeah, right. So how come the comments were on your website then? Tosser.
I would have thought another Unilever product, Vaseline, would have been more in Griffin's line.
Nick Griffin gets porkier by the day, doesn't he.
This sums up Gri££in perfectly – a gimmick.
Anything cheap and childish is right up his street. If it's politics you’re after then you’re in the wrong place.
What a clown, he sets out to capitalise on anything that he thinks might just get him a little more publicity.
The British people should get him stuffed at a taxidermist and then put in a glass cabinet so future generations of children can come and see the human form at its lowest watershed - A greedy egocentric fatman interested in himself and prepared to shit on anyone to get what he wants.
It's not legal action through court, just an in juction.
griffin,jefferson and darby all rolling about in marmite. ugh sorry for that thought folks
What's this crap he's moaning about now on the Leaders Debate?
"The BBC’s shocking bias has been revealed once again with the news that the publicly-funded corporation has refused to broadcast tonight’s television debate because it would then be forced to allow Nick Griffin airtime to respond.
Sky News, which is hosting tonight’s debate in Bristol, has made the rights available to all other broadcasters — but the BBC will only simulcast it on BBC News 24, Radio 4 and then repeated on BBC2 at 11.30pm.
The BBC’s refusal to broadcast the debate live — an astonishing move — is because its own impartiality rules would force it to give Mr Griffin opportunity to respond to the debate."
Well, ITV haven't got it either and the BBC didn't show last weeks. It's on later so what's he on about?
The broadcast is dire and Gri££in looks a complete fool, the clothes, the set, the hair all look - well it looks to me like a sketch about a dirty old man in a comedy sitcom, it's amazing that their own broadcast seems just like a piss take of the BNP.
They can't really expect.....
- They say there's one born every minute - but there's thankfully not that many who'll swallow that - bad joke I know.
All that is before the content which is the usual dire crap!
The fall out after the GE is going to be soooo entertaing as the fasch block falls to bits and argues amoungst themselves :-)
They should sue the arse of Griffin and bankrupt him.
Watch the smug grin wiped off Darby's face yesterday in a live debate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7-zxMQahdg
Was Dave Howard involved with this? Was he at home at 33 abney drive sheffield doing the BNP video at the time?
What the holy hell do CRB checks prove? I passed one years ago in order to work as a care assistant with elderly people. All it proved was that I have never been convicted of a crime that would make me unsafe to be left alone or in a position of trust around elderly people.
They are a safeguard, a reassurance, NOT a guarantee.
*this is not a slight on anybody's character; merely an observation into CRB checks.
http://www.vnnforum.com/showthread.php?p=1119861&post1119861
DO THE ELDERLY PEOPLE IN THE BUNGALOWS OPPOSITE 4 SHIREBROOK CLOSE ILKESTON KNOW BEV KERRY IS CONNECTED TO COMBAT 18? MAYBE WE SHOULD INFORM THEM VIA MAILSHOTS?
I love Marmite. Whenever I see a jar I just want to stick a knife in. Funnily enough, when I see Griffin....
Kool the homophobic comments people
Thanks Sam.
All this marmite Crap - The BNP are not Boverilled.
The three mainstream party leaders are debating Trident, Nuclear Power, the economy etc.
Griffin's discussing Marmite.
"Johnnyb wrote 'Ignore Marmite's silly campaign, concentrate on being a serious political party. The general public will not get irony.'"
Fucking priceless!
One of the most racist Facebook sites set up by the BNP is called: -
http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/CORNER-SHOP-CAN-I-SEE-YOUR-ID-CAN-I-SEE-YOUR-BRITISH-PASSPORT-/115271058499717
This website invites people to take violent fascist action against corner shops run by Asian people, and talks about closing them down one-by-one.
This stupid Facebook site falsely says that the Romans were in Britain, there were no immigrants which was absolute bullshit, for anyone who has visited York museum and seen the pictures, bodies and artifcats of African Roman citizens living in Britain under Roman rule.
This evil group inciting violence against non-white shopkeepers has over 100,000 members which is most worrying, and I would ask all anti-fascists to get it closed down!
Only recently an Asian shopkeeper in Huddersfield was murdered by violent thugs.
FUCK THE FACEBOOK BNP!
Thinking of the Martin Webster connection: Nick Griffin - Marmite miner? Just thinking aloud people.
"THATCHERITE" EDL MEMBERS IN BRISTOL ARRESTED FOR VIOLENT ASSAULTS ON PRESS PHOTOGRAPHERS
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5j3ZDI8uaneY0GBs0YL3yWO0isXoQ
BIZARRE, VIOLENT AND TRUE!!!!
Just seen the Blogspot of our local nazi candidate, Les Orton. He claims: 'unlike claims made by the Marxist NUJ, the BNP are NOT racist'.
This was at the top of the page. However, I didn't have to scroll down very far to see the racism, which got more and more blatant the further down the page I went.
The interview with Brett Anderson (Suede) in the NME a couple of years ago is spot on, don't take the journo's word for it that the BNP are racist Nazis with a sprinkling of dysfunctionality and weirdness. Go on their websites and blogs and see for yourself!!
I seem to have fallen into a wormhole and slipped into an alternate universe in which Nick Clegg is considered a serious political contender, there are no planes in the sky and Nick Griffin & The BNP are a comedy act.
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