Iceland has dropped the outdated “That’s why mums go to Iceland” slogan to reflect the fact that other people also do grocery shopping.
The frozen foods retailer has tweaked its strapline to the more neutral “That’s why we go to Iceland” in an advertising push with the TV personality Josie Gibson as its new ambassador.
“I think the new tagline is great because Iceland is not just for mums. Even though mums love it, Iceland is for everybody,” said the presenter, who won Big Brother in 2010.
Iceland first used the mums line in 1970, with the slogan “Mums love it”, before moving on to “Mum’s gone to Iceland” in the late 1980s. In 2004, with pop star Kerry Katona fronting its ad campaigns, the strapline was updated to the now classic “That’s why mums go to Iceland”.
Iceland’s executive chair, Richard Walker, said: “Iceland’s always been number one with mums and our new campaign celebrates our growing customer base, from across all aspects of the great British public.”
Walker said Gibson, who is a mother herself, was “the perfect person to encapsulate the friendly welcome” customers receive at Iceland.
It is not the first time the retailer has moved away from the “mum” angle in its strapline. For Peter Andre’s Iceland ads in 2014, the slogan was retooled to: “That’s why Peter goes to Iceland”.
The latest celebrity ambassador represents a change in tactics after Walker’s announcement last year that amid growing losses, it had dropped its Christmas ad in order to invest in “supporting customers during the cost of living crisis”. The company has expanded its range of £1 value meals.
The retailer has recently aimed to broaden its appeal to UK shoppers beyond the frozen foods aisles, launching its own household goods range among a variety of new own-label products.
Iceland has also recently become the first supermarket to create a panel to represent its customers in the run-up to the general election. The panel of seven UK customers will write a manifesto, to be shared with political parties, after a survey of up to 6,000 regular customers about their concerns.
The latest ad campaign will run over 12 months, during primetime TV slots starting from Saturday, including Gogglebox, In for a Penny, Britain’s Got Talent and Made in Chelsea.
