The world of advertising is a funny thing. Promising to deliver so much, and rarely keeping that promise.
The diet world springs to mind as an example of an industry that talks a big game, yet its success stories remain slim.
I identified the dieting world as just one example of a concept largely failing to deliver. It is fair to say that there are a whole host of brands out there that do not keep their brand promise. In many ways, we’ve almost come to expect a slightly less than perfect version of the truth.
Take cleaning detergents. They rarely remove that dreadful red wine stain on your brand new silk shirt. The pen that decides to leak all over your white sheets? Good luck with that one. But, then you knew that when ‘it’ happened. You knew that the end was nigh, despite having your cleaning product to hand. And that’s because products that promise the earth do not perform like they suggest they do.
Unless your product is called Knock Out.
Back in 2011 my husband and I were living in a beautiful garden flat in Crouch End, North London. We had been living there less than two months and were settling into our new surroundings. Our landlord had left us with a few bathroom cleaning detergents, adding that due to the age of the property, sometimes there were issues with the drains. Having lived in converted London homes, this was nothing new.
It was a rare Saturday afternoon where my husband, Chris, took it upon himself to give the bathroom a spruce. We were having guests from Canada arriving mid-week and I imagine he was trying to be helpful.
Chris cleaned the bathroom and kitchen. Life continued as normal.
The next evening, our lovely neighbours who had been away for the weekend, returned to their basement flat which they had called home for 15 years.
Their flat was completely flooded. The ceiling of one of their bathrooms and the kitchen had completely collapsed. The ceiling was entirely exposed, as were the partially destroyed drains which were collecting the water from our dishwasher, washing machine, toilet, sink, shower and bath and transferring this to the floor of our neighbours flat. Furniture and photos were damaged. Thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars worth of damage.
What could have possibly caused such catastrophic destruction? Yes, you guessed it! The industrial strength sulphuric acid product, Knock Out, had indeed largely knocked out the infrastructure of our neighbours ceiling. Now neither of us were expecting that.
Fortunately for us, our neighbours (believe it or not), laughed at the situation. They received a hefty insurance compensation and asked us if we would use the same products towards the back of the flat – they really wanted to upgrade their second bathroom.
Moral of the story? Some brands do deliver their brand promise.