A £10m ‘Tell Sid’ style campaign featuring iconic broadcaster Sir Trevor McDonald was allegedly filmed before being unceremoniously dropped before the general election.
The ad centred on the government’s plans to sell NatWest shares, a controversial initiative which has since dropped in the run-up to the snap election.
According to reports in The Guardian, the campaign was created by M&C Saatchi, which is well-known for previous political campaigns including Labour Isn’t Working ahead of Margaret Thatcher’s 1979 victory and the Tony Blair demon eyes ahead of the 1997 election.
The concept was a rehash of the Tell Sid campaign, which was created in the 80s following the privatisation of British Gas.
According to sources that spoke to The Guardian, it was hoped that the iconic “If you see Sid, tell him” slogan would evoke that spirit once again and act as a “pre-election sweetener”.
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Last year the UK government sold £1.26 billion of Natwest shares, but plans to sell further shares to the public were dropped once the snap election got under way.
Back in February, Sky News reported that the task of promoting the move had been handed to M&C Saatchi, with the budget for encouraging Brits to buy shares in the bank sanctioned by the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Treasury.
Filming at the agency, which recently reshuffled its top team and appointed a new group CEO from within, had taken place but other portions of the budget won’t have been spent.
M&C Saatchi who declined to comment.
