Marks & Spencer brings back ‘food porn’ marketing campaign

Marks & Spencer has brought back its long-running ‘food porn’ marketing campaign for the third time, slyly recognizing the much-parodied seductive voice-over of the original ads.

The ‘Not just any food…” campaign, which originally featured the sultry voice of Northern Irish actress Dervla Kirwan seductively extolling the slow-mo close-ups of M&S food ran for six years, and was key in establishing the perception of M&S’s as a premium food and drink retailer.

The first ad, for a chocolate pudding, saw sales rise 3,500% , according to The Guardian. It was axed in 2010, although a nod to the original ad was briefly resuscitated in 2014.

The new campaign, which coincides with the retailer’s sponsorship with ITV prime-time show Britain’s Got Talent, features a series of short clips of people mimicking the original ad’s seductive voice-over in the course of their day. It was created by creative company Grey London and opens with a Transport for London announcer getting distracted by an advert of M&S.

M&S launched the #ThisIsNotJust food… was launched on Twitter and will run alongside a digital campaign.