Monday 20 September 2010

Clash Of The Titans*

It is a battle for the hearts and minds of middle England. In one corner stands perhaps the nation's best-known retailer, in the other, legions of the most vocal – and sharp-elbowed – mothers in the country.
Yes, it's Mumsnet going head-to-head with Marks and Spencer over their decision to make all their female sales staff go topless.

Oh, wait. That's not quite right. It's actually about...
...Marks & Spencer's decision to sublet a former "Simply Food" outlet to the US restaurant chain Hooters...
Yup. A business subletting some of its property to another business.

Maybe it's because I'm not a mother empty-headed, shrieking harriden but I really, really can't see the problem here. Ladies, some explanation?
Members of the forum are calling on the site's one million monthly visitors to boycott the retailer for "selling women and girls down the river ... to make a quick buck", and have started a letter writing campaign urging M&S to reconsider.
Yes, as we head towards recession, these idiots think that driving a new business out of their town (not even their town, in the case of most of the posters) is the way to go.

Who the hell are these women again?
...what is important to Mumsnetters is important to retailers and advertisers. The site is frequented in the main by affluent mothers with considerable spending power and a high degree of self-regard. In the main they are aged between 30 and 45 and live in London and the South-east.
Ah. Right. Exactly the sort of people we shouldn't be paying the slightest attention to....

* - albeit with more harpies and uglier medusae...

6 comments:

Quiet_Man said...

Mumsnet is just a nest of the political/chattering class righteous. They should (and are) ignored by most people, though sadly have influence beyond their size in the MSM because politicians take notice of them.

Chuckles said...

They are important to retailers and advertisers only because they also live in London and the South East and inhabit the same echo chambers. Customs of the tribe, laws of the universe etc.

Regarding Hooters, subletting ad desirability thereof,I think much more research is needed. Good on-site empirical type extended research.
Nothing like first-hand close observation for getting an idea of the shape of the problem. Hands-on might be too easily misconstrued of course.

Greencoat said...

I think this is a case of suck them and see.

JuliaM said...

"...a nest of the political/chattering class righteous. "

So it would seem. Isn't it amazing how quickly they've become a yardstick by which the policy-makers judge attitudes?

"...I think much more research is needed. Good on-site empirical type extended research."

Selfless of you to volunteer... ;)

"I think this is a case of suck them and see."
LOL!

Anonymous said...

Sexist claptrap ... not Hooters, but the idea that Mumsnet is only visited by mothers. What about us fathers? I visit it occasionally too, though they have been getting ideas well above their station in recent times.

Anyway, I have great difficulty walking past an M&S food outlet without spending something in it, so a Hooters type establishment would probably do me good. (Ahem)

JuliaM said...

"Anyway, I have great difficulty walking past an M&S food outlet without spending something in it, so a Hooters type establishment would probably do me good."

See, there's always a silver lining... ;)