Yorkie's 'it's not for girls' advert would be banned today because of 'wokey correctness'

The marketing executive responsible for Yorkie's controversial "it's not for girls" advertising campaign has said the promotions would be unthinkable in the current era.

Andrew Harrison, who served as Nestlé's marketing director, reflected on how the pre-social media landscape allowed for humorous adverts that playfully suggested women were prohibited from purchasing the chocolate bar.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Mr Harrison said: "Could it happen now? Absolutely not. We've moved in a generation from blokey humour to wokey correctness."

He added: "We assumed in those days everyone had a sense of humour."

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The decade-long campaign, which ran from 2002 until 2012, proved remarkably effective at driving sales increases among male and female consumers alike.

Television promotions featured memorable scenarios, including one advert depicting a young woman adopting a disguise complete with false facial hair and workmen's attire while committing the offside rule to memory, all to secure a purchase of the bar.

Poster advertisements took aim at male stereotypes, encouraging young men to hone their driving abilities instead of "feed the birds".

Such was the appetite among female customers that Nestlé introduced a limited-edition pink-wrapped version marketed as "especially for girls" in 2006.

Mr Harrison defended the promotional strategy.

He noted that critics who questioned the logic of alienating half the potential customer base failed to recognise that female audiences also found the adverts entertaining.

He pointed out the irony in accusations of sexism, given that several senior women played key roles in developing the campaign.

This included staff at J Walter Thompson, the advertising agency commissioned to do the work.

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The former marketing director argued the Yorkie adverts represented a deliberate departure from genuinely problematic 1990s advertising.

He said former adverts frequently featured sexualised portrayals of women, citing Cadbury's steamy bathtub Flake commercial as an example.

The campaign sought to update Yorkie's image from its 1970s trucker advertisements.

Back then, the brand belonged to York-based Rowntree, which positioned the chunkier bar as targeting an overlooked male demographic.

At the campaign's 2002 launch, Mr Harrison said the aim was to "take a stand for the British bloke and reclaim some things in his life, starting with his chocolate".

Nestlé discontinued the slogan around 2012, briefly replacing it with "man fuel for man stuff" before abandoning gender-targeted marketing altogether.

A company spokesman previously said: "We hope people know that this was an old marketing campaign and Yorkie is of course for everybody to enjoy."

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