Richard III needs help, from Marmite marketers

I just finished reading a piece in the Guardian describing a traffic accident which left 20 tons of Marmite spread over the M1 Motorway. Lord, what a Great Lake-sized waste! If I could, I'd be over there licking the tires/tyres. I suppose you have to be British to like the stuff. As the reporter puts it, one's taste for (or against) Marmite "taps into a peculiarly English gluttony for punishment." Well, I survived nine years in British boarding schools. That's like doing Marmite. Character-building, what! When we can't buy Marmite in Toronto, we settle for another product, one that makes Australians weep: Vegemite. It's pleasant, like a mild fish paste, but it can't dissolve rubber the way Marmite can.

Which brings me to my point (if I ever had one). Marmite has much in common with Richard III; either you love him or you hate him. Maybe the Richard III Society could borrow some tips from the Marmite marketing campaign, which "created a way for even those who hate Marmite-the-product to interact with and love Marmite-the-brand. Giving them licence to say things such as 'I want to stab it until it dies. Then burn it. And then mail its ashes to its grandmother'." That having been said, what sort of person could judge Richard, or Marmite, so harshly? That's what we need: a sympathy campaign. Perhaps portraits of Richard with speech balloons.

Robert Fripp

Here, here! Robert. Back in the '80s, I mocked up a portrait of Richard holding an American Express card. They had that "Do you know me?" campaign at the time. The man who wrote back said it was "charming," but since Richard wasn't American.... Kinda missed the whole point, in my opinion : )

Judy
 
Loyaulte me lie


________________________________
From: Robert Fripp <r_fripp@...>
To: Richard III Society <>
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 11:16 AM
Subject: Richard III needs help, from Marmite marketers


 
I just finished reading a piece in the Guardian describing a traffic accident which left 20 tons of Marmite spread over the M1 Motorway. Lord, what a Great Lake-sized waste! If I could, I'd be over there licking the tires/tyres. I suppose you have to be British to like the stuff. As the reporter puts it, one's taste for (or against) Marmite "taps into a peculiarly English gluttony for punishment." Well, I survived nine years in British boarding schools. That's like doing Marmite. Character-building, what! When we can't buy Marmite in Toronto, we settle for another product, one that makes Australians weep: Vegemite. It's pleasant, like a mild fish paste, but it can't dissolve rubber the way Marmite can.

Which brings me to my point (if I ever had one). Marmite has much in common with Richard III; either you love him or you hate him. Maybe the Richard III Society could borrow some tips from the Marmite marketing campaign, which "created a way for even those who hate Marmite-the-product to interact with and love Marmite-the-brand. Giving them licence to say things such as 'I want to stab it until it dies. Then burn it. And then mail its ashes to its grandmother'." That having been said, what sort of person could judge Richard, or Marmite, so harshly? That's what we need: a sympathy campaign. Perhaps portraits of Richard with speech balloons.

Robert Fripp

Richard is easier to get to like than Marmite (or Vegemite), though.  Not having been born with the stuff, even after approx. 20 years (off and on) in countries where it is eaten I still can't stand it.  It's the same with thongs (slip slops), I think your feet have to be used to them from very early on, otherwise they'll always hurt.  However, I became interested in Richard even later than my first exposure to Marmite and found that process quite easy.

But having said that, I think a sympathy campaign or any campaign showing Richard in a non-negative light would be good.  Marmite/Vegemite is so much part of a culture and it is a pity that Shakespeare's Richard became part of popular culture.  Writing well-researched books (which only a minority reads) is not going to change that.

Cheers, Dorothea



________________________________
From: Robert Fripp <r_fripp@...>
To: Richard III Society <>
Sent: Thursday, 1 December 2011 4:16 AM
Subject: Richard III needs help, from Marmite marketers


 
I just finished reading a piece in the Guardian describing a traffic accident which left 20 tons of Marmite spread over the M1 Motorway. Lord, what a Great Lake-sized waste! If I could, I'd be over there licking the tires/tyres. I suppose you have to be British to like the stuff. As the reporter puts it, one's taste for (or against) Marmite "taps into a peculiarly English gluttony for punishment." Well, I survived nine years in British boarding schools. That's like doing Marmite. Character-building, what! When we can't buy Marmite in Toronto, we settle for another product, one that makes Australians weep: Vegemite. It's pleasant, like a mild fish paste, but it can't dissolve rubber the way Marmite can.

Which brings me to my point (if I ever had one). Marmite has much in common with Richard III; either you love him or you hate him. Maybe the Richard III Society could borrow some tips from the Marmite marketing campaign, which "created a way for even those who hate Marmite-the-product to interact with and love Marmite-the-brand. Giving them licence to say things such as 'I want to stab it until it dies. Then burn it. And then mail its ashes to its grandmother'." That having been said, what sort of person could judge Richard, or Marmite, so harshly? That's what we need: a sympathy campaign. Perhaps portraits of Richard with speech balloons.

Robert Fripp

Actually, one of the most surprising things I've found about Richard III is how vehemently some people do "hate" him. I've seen some comments in blogs and online forums, etc, that are positively vitriolic. I mean, what's that all about? I can understand someone vehemently hating Hitler or Pol Pot or Robert Mugabe, because there are lives and families still blighted by their actions today. But why on earth should anyone bother to loathe Richard III, or loathe him any more than any other mediaeval king? So far as I can see, these "Richard haters" are not people who've made much of a study of his life, as they usually get relevant facts wrong. Maybe they've seen Shakespeare's play, but on the other hand, not a lot of people watch a lot of Shakespeare these days, do they? Having returned to the UK after 20 years in Africa, it strikes me that people in this country are much more judgmental than they used to be - and not a lot happier for it.
Regards, Annette


----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Fripp
To: Richard III Society
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 5:16 PM
Subject: Richard III needs help, from Marmite marketers



I just finished reading a piece in the Guardian describing a traffic accident which left 20 tons of Marmite spread over the M1 Motorway. Lord, what a Great Lake-sized waste! If I could, I'd be over there licking the tires/tyres. I suppose you have to be British to like the stuff. As the reporter puts it, one's taste for (or against) Marmite "taps into a peculiarly English gluttony for punishment." Well, I survived nine years in British boarding schools. That's like doing Marmite. Character-building, what! When we can't buy Marmite in Toronto, we settle for another product, one that makes Australians weep: Vegemite. It's pleasant, like a mild fish paste, but it can't dissolve rubber the way Marmite can.

Which brings me to my point (if I ever had one). Marmite has much in common with Richard III; either you love him or you hate him. Maybe the Richard III Society could borrow some tips from the Marmite marketing campaign, which "created a way for even those who hate Marmite-the-product to interact with and love Marmite-the-brand. Giving them licence to say things such as 'I want to stab it until it dies. Then burn it. And then mail its ashes to its grandmother'." That having been said, what sort of person could judge Richard, or Marmite, so harshly? That's what we need: a sympathy campaign. Perhaps portraits of Richard with speech balloons.

Robert Fripp

Judy, I can imagine a poster of r3 in that "uncle Sam" stance thrusting
a jar of Marmite. I ended up acquiring a bit of a taste for Marmite in
very small doses when I was visiting some friends in England. As a joke,
they gave me a jar of the stuff and that jar lasted almost 12 years. I
actually still have the jar, but it's empty. My online search for
Marmite turned up several places where a quantity can be
ordered--including Amazon.com. Who'da thunk.

Joan
---
author of--
This Time--General Fiction Finalist of 2010 Next Generation Indie Book
Awards
Loyalty Binds Me--recommended by Midwest Book reviews
website <http://www.joanszechtman.com/> -- blog
<http://rtoaaa.blogspot.com/> --trailer <http://youtu.be/O49HPSN08NI>
ebooks at Smashwords
<http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JoanSzechtman>


--- In , Judy Thomson
<judygerard.thomson@...> wrote:
>
> Here, here! Robert. Back in the '80s, I mocked up a portrait of
Richard holding an American Express card. They had that "Do you know
me?" campaign at the time. The man who wrote back said it was
"charming," but since Richard wasn't American.... Kinda missed the whole
point, in my opinion : )
>
> Judy
> Â
> Loyaulte me lie
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Robert Fripp r_fripp@...
> To: Richard III Society
> Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 11:16 AM
> Subject: Richard III needs help, from
Marmite marketers
>
>
> Â
> I just finished reading a piece in the Guardian describing a traffic
accident which left 20 tons of Marmite spread over the M1 Motorway.
Lord, what a Great Lake-sized waste! If I could, I'd be over there
licking the tires/tyres. I suppose you have to be British to like the
stuff. As the reporter puts it, one's taste for (or against) Marmite
"taps into a peculiarly English gluttony for punishment." Well, I
survived nine years in British boarding schools. That's like doing
Marmite. Character-building, what! When we can't buy Marmite in Toronto,
we settle for another product, one that makes Australians weep:
Vegemite. It's pleasant, like a mild fish paste, but it can't dissolve
rubber the way Marmite can.
>
> Which brings me to my point (if I ever had one). Marmite has much in
common with Richard III; either you love him or you hate him. Maybe the
Richard III Society could borrow some tips from the Marmite marketing
campaign, which "created a way for even those who hate
Marmite-the-product to interact with and love Marmite-the-brand. Giving
them licence to say things such as 'I want to stab it until it dies.
Then burn it. And then mail its ashes to its grandmother'." That having
been said, what sort of person could judge Richard, or Marmite, so
harshly? That's what we need: a sympathy campaign. Perhaps portraits of
Richard with speech balloons.
>
> Robert Fripp
>
>
>
>

--- In , "Annette Carson" <email@...> wrote:
>
> Actually, one of the most surprising things I've found about Richard III is how vehemently some people do "hate" him.

You are right there Annette. You'd think that he personally had smothered their brothers and sisters, raped their mothers and burned down their houses.

There's one on Facebook who I blocked in the end as I got fed up of reading his relentless drivel.

I think that in part it's not so much anti-Richard as anti-Ricardian. Because we revisionists challenge what I call 'the cherished fictional image' which in this case is provided by Shakespeare.

We all of us have fictional tales that we love, and it's painful when someone comes along and changes the story. Imagine if as children we'd suddenly been told that Robin Hood was actually a murdering criminal who stole from the poor as well as the rich. Or that Cinderella had stayed in the kitchen all her life. We'd have been shocked, outraged, hurt. We'd have wanted the familiar, comforting story back.

Challenge any well-established historical myth (particularly if it happens to be a national myth) and you'll get a similar reaction from certain quarters.

Generally you find that these types swallow the whole black legend, hook line and sinker, and want to believe Richard was evil personified, guilty of every crime in England from 1452 onwards and without a single redeeming feature.

Brian W

A friend of mine once said (referring to something else) when people find out that a long held belief is a lie, they aren't angry with the people who told the lie, but with the people who show them that it WAS a lie!  How true is that.



________________________________
From: Brian <wainwright.brian@...>
To:
Sent: Thursday, 1 December 2011, 15:32
Subject: Re: Richard III needs help, from Marmite marketers


 
I think that in part it's not so much anti-Richard as anti-Ricardian. Because we revisionists challenge what I call 'the cherished fictional image' which in this case is provided by Shakespeare.

On 12/1/2011 8:32 AM, Brian wrote:
>
>
> I think that in part it's not so much anti-Richard as anti-Ricardian. Because we revisionists challenge what I call 'the cherished fictional image' which in this case is provided by Shakespeare.
>
> We all of us have fictional tales that we love, and it's painful when someone comes along and changes the story. Imagine if as children we'd suddenly been told that Robin Hood was actually a murdering criminal who stole from the poor as well as the rich.

That actually matches a lot of the early tales of Robin Hood.