Johnny Rotten boosts butter sales

02/03/2009 (1 d 3 h ago)

It has been one of the more unlikely celebrity endorsements; John Lydon, a member of the seminal punk band the Sex Pistols, advertising Country Life butter. But it appears to have worked. Dairy Crest today said the campaign, featuring a spiky-haired Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, dressed in tweeds , had helped lift sales of the brand by 85% in the most recent quarter. Lydon, once better known for sending chills down the spine of middle Englanders, now appears adept at sending them to the chiller cabinet. The performance of the brand helped to steady Dairy Crest after being forced to issue a profit warning in November . The business has been hit by spiralling milk prices, and sought to keep its costs down by laying off staff at its head office in Esher, Surrey. In an interim management statement, Dairy Crest said group sales for the nine months to the end of December had improved by 4% compared with the same period in the previous year. Another key brand, Cathedral City cheese, was also a strong performer, increasing sales by 14%. The company said it had also captured a larger share of the Marks & Spencer cheese business, which would improve results next year. Dairy Crest Sex Pistols Advertising guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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