Yoghurt - The Real Winner of X Factor

Last night I was one of the millions of hopeless viewers of The X Factor. Love it or hate it, you can’t ignore the hit reality series. As a relative newbie to the creative world I find myself noticing more and more the advertising that goes on to break up the melodrama of shows like the X factor, giving us all a brief respite from Gary Barlow’s pearls of wisdom and Dermot O’Leary’s BRILLIANT dancing . X Factor 2011, to me, only has one clear winner and that is Yeo Valley.

The length of the first advert alone was enough to catch all of our attention, even if the hot farmers didn’t! Yeo Valley has honed in on the power of the British sense of humour, so the identity that they have created is one of irony and light heartedness, whilst reminding us that, ‘yes, our product is brilliant’.

But, more than anything, they have realised that there is nothing that the British public loves more than someone with the ability to laugh at themselves, except maybe laughing at a toff and Yeo Valley provides us with both! What with their barber jackets, flat caps, tousled hair and wellies straight from the Kings Road, these farmer type are the perfect victims. Not only do we find ourselves laughing along with the farmer types but we are made overtly aware of the stupidity of our own obsessions with the singing competition. 

The identity that is now Yeo Valley is youthful, on trend and has an implicit sense of fun. It's not patronising; it's simple and this means it's been flung around Facebook, Twitter and Youtube probably with more hits than the X Factor finalists themselves.

The packaging of this yoghurt seems unconnected to the TV adverts, but holds the same boldness and accessibility.  Pearlfisher Creative Partner Jonathan Ford said: “We have loved working with Yeo Valley from the start. The client’s commitment to stand for something – dairy – and to create something truly different with a bold and brave new identity has certainly paid off.” And I have to agree.

Does it have ‘friendly bacteria’? Will it make us look like Martine McCutcheon? Who knows? What we do know is that it is cool to eat Yeo Valley yoghurt; the real winners of X Factor.