Spreading a little smile with consumers lockdown faux pas…Horlicks launches its 'Time for a Horlicks' Campaign

The UK’s favourite malted drink brand Horlicks has unveiled ‘Time for a Horlicks’ – its latest campaign which reflects on the more unique mishaps and home calamities which we have all experienced over the past year, as we grapple with the stresses of Covid and adjusted to our ‘new normal’ home and work life.

The iconic hot beverage brand headquartered in Lancashire independently commissioned a nationwide survey* to find out what common mishaps have happened throughout the pandemic, to let consumers know that they are not alone. The survey findings have formed the basis for a PR press and digital campaign, which launches on Monday 26 April.

Horlicks found that high up on the embarrassing moments work related list is accidental overly affectionate, work communications. Their poll found 30% of people admitted to signing off on a work call with ‘I love you’ and another 38% were guilty of signing off a work email with a kiss.

Also working from home whilst teaching has had its challenges for consumers – Horlicks shared that over a third of parents questioned admitted forgetting to hit the mute button before telling their children off, leaving colleagues to see how little patience they actually have.

Additionally, the Horlicks survey found that havoc is being caused across homes as parents rush to answer the snack and meal demands of children. Of those who have had home cooking disasters, 46% of respondents burnt the food they were cooking, 4 in 10 reported dropping dishes whilst cooking and an amazing 40% of us reported using the completely wrong ingredients for a recipe, like using salt instead of sugar in their brownie recipe.

Spending so much more time at home also means we finally get to know our neighbours a little better – pleasant hellos and chit chat on our daily walks, clapping together for the carers or even a distant ‘cheers’ on VE day. The Horlicks research found that over a third of respondents (35%) have accidentally left their curtains open and been caught with little to no clothing on, a third (33%) realised that the window has been ajar during a heated argument and nearly a third (32%) were overheard by their neighbours whilst gossiping about them, not ideal for neighbourly relations.

Although some of these incidents can be comical from the outside, Horlicks’ study found that it can take the person involved a long time to recover from embarrassing episodes. 22% said on average it takes 4-6 days to recover from the incident, and a similar number (21%) said it takes them 1-3 days. However, worryingly 13% of people said they ‘never recover’ from an embarrassing moment.

Michelle Younger, Head of Marketing for Aimia Foods, parent company to Horlicks comments: “The last year has brought with it many, many challenges to us all. It has also delivered a few humorous, often awkward moments, giving us a chance to have a little laugh as we look back and reflect on how our everyday life adapted to the necessary changes so we can eventually emerge from the pandemic stronger. Our Time for a Horlicks campaign promotes being kind to you and others, taking a little time out to unwind, and reflect rather than allow stressful everyday moments to build up, particularly as a large number of people are being shown to be holding onto the more embarrassing moments, weeks later.”

The Time for Horlicks campaign will also include a large scale sampling activation with over 200,000 Horlicks samples distributed via home-mover boxes and sport and consumer events, to support brand awareness and trial across 2021.