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It is sometimes forgivable to think that the role of the consumer goods giant, Unilever, is to entertain his punters, as well as to scourge them.
Its brands have been badociated with some of the most memorable ads of our time, that's about PG Tips in the 1970s ("Do you have a cuppa?"), From several controversial ads from Pot Noodle or his recent satire on Brexit for Marmite, which read: "Breakfast difficult? Sweet breakfast? No breakfast? Marmite: dividing the nation since 1902. "
These are pretty decent lines to have in your catalog, especially if you consider that they come from a big company, but there have been moments in recent months where the joke seemed to be weighing more and more on the society.
Take last week, when comedian Dave Gorman criticized the company's logo, which consists of a letter U built with icons meant to symbolize the group's products and values. "We came across Unilever's explanation regarding the elements of their logo," Gorman tweeted. "It's weird. It feels as if they had a brainstorming, threw some ideas on the board and they could not therefore be encouraged to write them correctly because they did not expect them to read them one day.
The following is a series of tweets dissecting some of the most bizarre entries from Unilever, such as "Ice Cream: A treat, a pleasure of enjoyment", or "Hand: a symbol of sensitivity, care and need – plus one on "cap-off" that Gorman seems to have managed to make laugh.
This is not a famous comic who should have created gags to make the company look silly. At the moment, he does it very well alone.
Among these gaffes, the most important was the retirement of former boss Paul Polman, after what has been widely regarded as a brilliant decade at the head of the firm (including by himself). He managed to make a full turn of his victory lap by moving away at a time of great personal humiliation, as a result of his attempt to relocate the Unilever headquarters to Rotterdam. For those in the city who hated this idea and found Polman a little selfish, the grand chief was forced to turn back embarrbadingly. Not so much Unilever, the City sang, more Uni-rest.
Which brings us to this week, when Polman's replacement, Alan Jope, reports on Unilever's first-quarter deals. This is not the first time that Jope appears before investors, but at a time when the city has a rather mixed vision of the company. Unilever is still considered a leading company, but the way in which it is negotiated raises some concerns. Prior to this week's announcement, stock trading firm The Share Center said: "The consumer giant, Leilever, is striving to increase its earnings growth. but the market was rather disappointed by the growth forecast this year when the annual results were released in January.
"The new managing director, Alan Jope, has stated that it is likely to be in the lower range than the 3 to 5 per cent range given earlier. Investors will therefore be interested to see if it stays the same. All comments on profit margin expectations will also be top of mind, as will the performance of emerging markets that offer the best growth prospects. "
In other words, some people think that the Anglo-Dutch combination is one of the great pillars of Europe; others fear that it is not fashionable. Another example of Unilever's marketing dividing his audience.
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