By Hannah Jones
As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot this weekend and royal wedding mania reaches fever pitch, we’ve seen a huge effort from brands to jump on the royal bandwagon – and none more so than the supermarkets!
National celebrations always see our favourite supermarkets and retailers dust off their battle helmets and lock horns to compete for our attention – and ultimately our cash.
And, with the search term “royal wedding supplies” peaking at its highest on 14th May at 7pm (NUMBER OF SEARCHES?), it’s clear that royal fans across the country are stocking up on food, drink and party supplies in time for Harry and Meghan’s nuptials on Saturday.
We’ve put together a selection of some of the weird and wonderful efforts from supermarkets to cash in on the Royal Wedding.
SAINSBURY’S
Heck Sausages
Yorkshire-based sausage producer, HECK, released a “Majestic” recipe to add to their range in Sainsbury’s. A nod to the royal redhead and his American bride-to-be, the Pork sausages are flavoured with sweet ginger and American mustard.
Packaged in a limited edition regal sleeve, the six-pack will set you back £2.
The brand have even applied to serve up their sausages in Windsor on the big day!
ASDA
Markle Sparkle
With Asda predicting the sale of £4.8million worth of fizz as royal fans stock their fridges this week, the supermarket giant launched a Markle Sparkle prosecco sale this week.
While maybe not as innovative as some others, Asda’s Yellow Label Prosecco has dropped to just £5 (from £6) ahead of the big day while Henri Cachet Champagne Brut is down from £18 to £12.
It’s a catchy campaign title and Asda prides itself on low prices, so in terms of its traditional customer base, this hits the mark.
ICELAND
Royal Wedding Cake & Banquet
For those who didn’t get an invite to the royal knees-up this weekend, Iceland have launched their very own noble banquet.
Priced at £30, the three-course feast includes scallops to start, Chicken D’amore and a fruity pavlova for dessert. They’ve also launched an even cheaper royal afternoon tea kit which includes mini eclairs, pork pies, scones and Viennese whirls – oh so British!
Customers can also get their hands on a handmade elderflower and lemon wedding cake – which is believed to be the flavour chosen for the happy couple’s cake.
ALDI
Wedding collection
Ingeniously timed, Aldi has announced their very own wedding range. Great news for those looking to do nuptials on a budget, the Wedding Essentials range includes a wooden heart guestbook, invitations, DIY craft kits and a Polaroid Snap Instant camera.
The discount retailer has also been active on social media posting Royal Wedding baking tutorial videos and competitions.
MARKS AND SPENCER
The Proposal
Probably my favourite effort of the bunch, Marks and Spencer have rebranded their Roast Chicken Salad Sandwich to “The Proposal” sandwich.
Inspired by the news that Prince Harry got down on one knee over a roast chicken, Marks and Spencer have also vowed to give away free limited edition sandwich meal deals to all 2,000 public guests on the big day. Brilliant!
MORRISONS
Slashing scallops
And with opportunity aplenty to take advantage of all the royal camaraderie, what do Morrison’s do? They reduce their large British King scallops from £1 to 50p! That makes them the cheapest in the UK according to reports, which means we can all afford a little bit of luxury over the weekend. Great effort.
So that’s your lot! There have certainly been some brilliant campaigns from brands to hook us in to royal wedding fever. I’ll definitely be tuning in on Saturday and I’m already fully stocked up on Pimm’s and scones (although I definitely need to get my hands on some 50p scallops now.)
National celebration and awareness days are a brilliant way to get your brand heard and there’s usually an awareness day of some sort every single day of the year. Why not download our awareness day calendar and see if your brand can do something special to mark an awareness day? Download the calendar here.
