It’s been five days since Queen Elizabeth II died. The loss of a monarch, one who has been a source of constancy for so many during the 70 years of her reign, came no doubt as a profound shock for many. Some brands are taking it particularly badly.
Take Morrisons. After reports that the supermarket chain — taken private in a £7bn deal last year — had turned off the beeps on its checkouts as a mark of respect, it later clarified its response was merely quite absurd, rather than utterly.
So Morrisons, which this morning told me by email that “checkout beeps are currently turned off within our stores” has changed its tune. It now says it “miscommunicated” and that the beeps have only been “turned down” in volume. Sadly this means my intro is no more.
— Andrew Ellson (@andrewellson) September 12, 2022
As you scan your meal-deal Egg Mayo & Cress sandwich for self-checkout a third time because you didn’t realise it already picked up twice, remember: it’s what she would have wanted.
Morrisons’ tonal turndown is one of the more egregious responses to HRH’s death, but it’s hard to remember a similar outpouring of Brand Grief. Hence we get, err…
Rest in Peace 🖤 Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022 pic.twitter.com/eou217S8SZ
— PLAYMOBIL (@playmobil) September 8, 2022
Or, uh…
Indeed, the rush by corporate interests to demonstrate how anguished they are has led to the Streisand-effecting of some rather strange ventures — whither, David Bowie NFTs?
— David Bowie Official (@DavidBowieReal) September 10, 2022
Of course, this is all just a reflection of how important it has become for brands to be knee-deep in the trenches of discourse. And thankfully, most of the responses seem to be tasteless or mawkish at worst, rather than actually potentially impactful.
Oh.
We are saddened by the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Our thoughts are with her family and all those affected by this news.
As a mark of respect during this time of national mourning we will only be posting daily forecasts and warnings.
— Met Office (@metoffice) September 9, 2022
Ahem.
In light of the period of national mourning now being observed in the United Kingdom, the September 2022 meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee has been postponed for a period of one week. The Committee’s decision will be announced at 12 noon on 22 September.
— Bank of England (@bankofengland) September 9, 2022
The Bank of England’s eyebrow-raising timeout might not be the only macroeconomic impact of the mourning period, which will culminate with a bank holiday next Monday for the funeral. Here’s Deutsche’s Sanjay Raja today (following tepid July growth figures released on Monday):
Today’s GDP report combined with the recent announcement that 19 September will be a Bank Holiday means that the UK will likely enter a technical recession in Q3. Conditioned on similar estimates to 2002 and 2012, we expect September GDP to drop by around 1% to 1.5% m-o-m — a little more than the June drop given the number of trading days. Ultimately, this should leave Q3-2022 GDP contracting by around -0.2% q-o-q to -0.3% q-o-q.
Fairly unfortunate timing for Liz Truss, who may now face a string of “UK in recession” headlines in mid-November. Alphaville is sure the response will be nuanced.