For those in the UK, the yearly Budget announcement is filled with expectation, anticipation and tradition. Inevitably, the past few years have seen more bad news than good for the economy, but there were some very interesting moments in Chancellor George Osborne’s speech yesterday.
The news which created the most front page headlines was the announcement of a new ‘resilient’ 12-sided £1 coin.
“Our new pound coin will blend the security features of the future with inspiration from our past,” Osborne told the Commons. “In honour of our Queen, the coin will take the shape of one of the first coins she appeared on – the threepenny bit.
“A more resilient pound for a more resilient economy.”
Even though it wasn’t explicitly asked, Twitter leapt into action. Not too surprisingly – similar to the memorial signer at Nelson Mandela’s funeral and the UKIP politician who blamed the UK flooding on gay marriage – a parody account was quickly born:
Daddy! RT @George_Osborne Today I will deliver a Budget for a resilient economy- starting with a resilient pound coin pic.twitter.com/FfyhO5COIq
— New Pound Coin (@newpoundcoin) March 19, 2014
From the brand’s perspective, Jaffa Cakes got into the spirit with this new product launch aimed to reduce counterfeiting:
.@RoyalMintUK @George_Osborne @hmtreasury We’re right behind you guys… #ReduceJaffaCounterfeiting #Sweeet pic.twitter.com/EgRsXB1gPk
— Jaffa Cakes (@RealJaffaCakes) March 19, 2014
While it was almost inevitable that tweets such as these would crop up:
Breaking: Osborne to introduce new coin for Britain. pic.twitter.com/xuzci0PyL6
— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) March 18, 2014
Pound coin? Pah! New @alexhern coin unveiled #doge #sowow pic.twitter.com/ULZHLIeAMi
— Charles Arthur (@charlesarthur) March 19, 2014
As good as these are MarketingTech would argue that these have slightly missed the point – the dogedecagon, which first saw life on Imgur two months ago, would have been more appropriate.
Which other parodies have you found? Share them by putting a comment below…
