A Poisonous Marketing Campaign

How Itsu raised the bar for bad taste advertising

Just back from a last frantic dash round the shops (surprisingly uncrowded this year, didn’t you think?), a chore which was hugely enlivened by walking along Piccadilly and seeing what they’ve done to the celebrated Russian-spy-radiation-poisoning branch of Itsu.

I have a healthy respect for the worst outrages performed by advertisers... I was neither surprised nor disgusted when ‘Opium’ perfume upped the sexual ante on their rivals by covering London in huge billboards depicting a woman mid-coitus. When a new bar in Brixton chose to send a press release saying ‘Come to Brixton for a double shot’ the day after two people were gunned down outside The Fridge Nightclub, I made it my personal mission to plug them everywhere I could as a reward for their daring tastelessness (‘The Bar With No Name’ on Railton Road, if you’re interested. Excellent Martinis, and a pleasingly weird music policy). But Itsu has topped the lot. Their response to the poisoning of an insignificant former KGB pen-pusher made me want to burst into spontaneous applause.

(By the way, stop reading now if you’re likely to go along Piccadilly in the next few weeks. I don’t want to spoil the surprise for you).

They’ve decided to rebrand as a murdered-spy theme bar. The entire front window of the restaurant has been covered with that big swirly gunsight thing from the opening credits of James Bond. And at the centre there’s a sign that says ‘An international espionage incident has transformed this Itsu into a world famous meeting place’. It’s as if Mayor Ken had decided to treat July 7th as an opportunity to woo extreme tourism fans and appeared on television in a flak jacket shouting “Come to the new front line in the war of terror! Bombs! Explosions! Extra-judicial killings! We got it all! It’s like Rambo II out here!”

Itsu will be reopening after Christmas with what their website refers to as "a brand new look". What’s the betting that this will involve close-up photos of radioactive isotopes, staff with their heads shaved bald and an enormous photo of Vladimir Putin looming over the dining room? I certainly hope it does, anyway. “Come to Itsu, you’ll be positively glowing after our special sashimi”.

Seaside Drama

Blackpool - the UK's biggest seaside resort - could be the new home of the National Theatre Museum. Currently located in Covent Garden the V & A-owned museum is set to close its London doors in January 2007. The move north would see the collection expanded to include regional archive material from the Pleasure Beach, the Tower Circus and the Grand Theatre.

East End Amsterdam Gets Green Light

Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat has been approached to help transform London’s Lower Lea Valley into an East End Amsterdam as part of the London Thames Gateway’s Water City scheme. The area, covering 1,450 hectares, boasts five and a half miles of rivers and canals which will be transformed into a “green artery” running through the heart of the Thames Gateway.

Surfing on the Square

Leicester Square now boasts free, round-the-clock, Wi-Fi internet access. The 8mb line covering most of the capital’s rendezvous hotspot will allow tourists and locals alike to hook up without having to pay for the privilege to do so.

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