Biscuit manufacturer Pladis has teamed up with TV and film star Martine McCutcheon to rally the nation to bring back the biscuit break.
The call is part of a £7.8m campaign for McVitie’s called True Originals designed to promote hero products in the brand’s line-up and draw attention to them in consumers’ daily routines.
It represents the first master-brand campaign for McVitie’s in almost 10 years and will include PR, social, radio, and shopper marketing, reaching three quarters (74%) of the target audience.
McCutcheon, who starred in Christmas film Love Actually and soap opera EastEnders, is fronting the ‘Bring Back the Biscuit Break’ campaign.
“As someone who loves her tea and biscuit breaks, I’m so excited to help McVitie’s with their mission of reinstating this treasured tradition for the hard-working people of Britain,” she said.
The initiative comes after Pladis commissioned research of 4,000 workers in the UK to understand how the cultural institution of the office tea and biscuit break has crumbled in recent years. It found that the overwhelming majority (93%) of those surveyed believed a tea break is an important part of the working day, with over three-quarters (76%) saying they felt their performance at work was impaired if they didn’t take enough breaks.
However, 40% said that their employers did not do enough to encourage them to take breaks, despite the benefits of doing so. Seventy per-cent of workers claimed they took under 15 minutes of breaks (outside their lunch break) a day, with 40% taking under 10 minutes. Meanwhile, 47% said they were too overloaded with meetings and emails to take the regular breaks they need.
To help with this, workers can apply via McVitie’s website for a chance to win a ‘truly original biscuit break’ next month. This features an office visit from McCutcheon accompanied by a customised tea trolley stocked with biscuits including Chocolate Digestives, Jaffa Cakes, Hobnobs, and Penguins.
Meanwhile, a series of high-profile partnerships will embed the brand into biscuit breaks across the nation. In a station first, McVitie’s will be taking over mid-morning shows on Absolute and Magic. Classic daily features – Absolute Radio’s ‘Tea Break Trivia’ and Magic’s ‘Tea Breakers’ – will be renamed ‘Biscuit Break Trivia’ and ‘Tea and Biscuit Breakers’, respectively.
“Our research has shown us that, thanks to our busy lifestyles, we’re at risk of losing the beloved biscuit break,” said Aslı Özen Turhan, chief marketing officer at Pladis UK&I.
“With our latest campaign, we’re getting even more Brits to take time out over a cuppa by demonstrating why the biscuit break matters. By helping to reclaim it as part of the nation’s daily routine and showing Brits that there’s no better partner for this than the category’s True Original, we’re re-igniting love for Britain’s biggest biscuit brand.”
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