Marmite....Love it or Hate it...

[TightEnd]

I don't like Marmite. Had it once, didn't think much of it, never bought it again. However for brand marketers "not liking" Marmite is not enough. I have to hate it. Or love it. "You'll either love it or Hate it" they proclaim. Which, at 4am this morning, as I lay in bed adrenalin still pulsing through my veins from winning another poker competition (gratutitous mention!) got me to thinking.

What on earth is the point of that advertising slogan?

Granted those of us who have tried marmite know whether we like it or we don't, I expect replies to this post will split along these lines. However, what if you've never tried it? There you are trundling up and down the aisles of ASDA and if you are anything like me you can't reach the checkout without a few impulse purchases.

To digress for a minute, why, if the supermarkets know this, do they put the following items on those bits that stick out of the shelves, just begging to be bought...ice cream scoops? shoelaces? plastic dog toys? If I were running ASDA I'd put completely different things there to tempt the impulse shopper, but what do I know...

Back to Marmite. So there you are, in the spreads section and your eyes turn to Marmite. "Hmmmm" you think "I've never had that, perhaps I'll give it a try" when the little conscience in the recesses of your mind chirps up "but I'll either love it or hate it, what if I hate it?" so you pick up something wholsesome like nutella Chocolate spread instead.

So you see what the manufacturers of Marmite (BestFoods, now part of Unilever) are doing? They are automatically limiting the growth of their market by deliberately putting a doubt in the potential consumer's mind as to whether they will like it or not. How much do you think the Marmite brand manager get's paid for that? Complete madness.

Search on the internet for Marmite and you discover a cornucopia of sites....unsurprisingly some are called "I love Marmite". Others are called "I hate Marmite". Equally unsurprisingly the "I hate Marmite" websites provide a wealth of material for the cycnical slightly satirical amateur journalist. So here you go....

The most important thing to know about Marmite is apparently that it is NOT Vegemite. So what is it? Basically, it's beer yeast crap. Or more precisely, salty beer yeast crap.

To quote one site IloveMarmite.co.uk: "We are reliably informed that Marmite is made by adding salt to the waste-product produced by the yeast in the brewing process. The salt messes with the yeast cells and causes a reaction, resulting in the brown gloop called marmite."

What makes it different from Vegemite? Vegemite is supposedly bland salty yeast crap. No half measures here, though, so I'm going to try the original full strength muck.

Here's a selection of quotes from the I Hate Marmite website:

"We tried Marmite at school, we tried it on bagels. It was gross!!! How people eat that is beyond me. They all crazy!!!" - Brad

"Marmite is completely evil. I have to work in an office of marmite-lovers and it is sheer torture. I need help. I need solidarity. And I agree with the congealed baby poo comparison - very apt. Except if I have a baby that pooed marmite I would give it up for adoption rather than face the smell of its nappies. Urrrggghh." - Liz

Hmmm.

It's not all bad, though. There are some people who actually like the stuff. They'd have to, I suppose, or BestFoods wouldn't keep making the tar. And they are proud of it.

The boasts on the official Marmite site include: "MARMITE Spread is free from: Gluten, Soya and derivatives, Maize and derivatives, Milk and derivatives, Eggs and derivatives, Nuts and derivatives, Peanuts and derivatives, Flavours, Colours, Antioxidants, Added MSG, Preservatives "

Well so are my cars tyre's, but I'm not eating them. 

In the interests of balanced investigative journalism I thought I really had to buy a jar, for the first time ever, and taste this stuff for the first time in over 30 years, and here are my scientifically proven results:

Its disgusting.

[matt674]

<a href="http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008_ZBYYYYYYYYGB" target="_blank">[img width= height= alt=Vomit" border="0]http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_19_7.gif[/img][/url]

[Poppet7]

I've never tried Marmite but I like Bovril

Good post Richard, you always seem to get inspiration after your weekly shop! Slightly crazy but I like it!

[Sheriff Fatman]

Perhaps the hidden brilliance of the Marmite campaign is that it might prompt someone to write at length about it one day in a completely bizarre place such as, say, a poker forum.

 

Sheriff

[Trace]

Surely you know it's going to be disgusting by the smell it gives off as soon as you open the jar!!!



Vile poisonous rank stuff!

And yes it does indeed resemble a new born babies first meconium filled nappy.

[TightEnd]

I know it is mad, and I know this is the wrong place, but supermarkets, and specifically product positioning, baffle me

My weekly shop is not an experience you wish to share. I take ages, looking and wondering "Why? it would be better that way"


I also like deconstrucitng brand marketing, as you can tell

[londonpokergirl]

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lol agreed  its horrible

[The Truth]

Love Marmite

[Sunday8pm]

i lurvvvvvvvvvv it

[ACE2M]

it's lovely.

Do people who have never tried it then feel left out when people are arguing over if they love it or hate it and feel prompted to buy some to find out? some then love it and are retained as customers for years and those that hate feel part of normal society. The hardest part is getting them through the door.

[North Angel]

Hate it

[rivered]

marmite, with cheese and onion crisps in a sandwich with loadsa butter... mmmmmmm

[TightEnd]

it's lovely.

Do people who have never tried it then feel left out when people are arguing over if they love it or hate it and feel prompted to buy some to find out? some then love it and are retained as customers for years and those that hate feel part of normal society. The hardest part is getting them through the door.

good thinking, almost as if the campaign is saying.."You have to try it" and then out of every 100 who try it they will get 50 customers for life.

[Poppet7]

marmite, with cheese and onion crisps in a sandwich with loadsa butter... mmmmmmm

Ewwwwww!

[b4matt]

Omg... Marmite is the Nuts, It's uber yummy. I'm soooo dissapointed in you all.