There seems to be an emerging trend for local dialect copywriting.
This blog mentioned the cockney cash machines a while back.
Now Spar has released a range of wine labels written in everything from Scouse to Geordie and Brummie.
So the Scouse Label talks about: "A totally boss bottle of Merlot which smells o' blackberry, choccie, a
brew and toffees. Juicy and complex like, this bevey is top wi most
scran 'specially me ma's scouse. Tellin ye, this is deffo a bevey that
will leave youz and youz mates made up over yez Sayers pastie."
And the Somerset Label says: "Alright my luvver, eers one helluva Merlot. Be stinkin hummin a
sivvies thar be bleddy ansome wi yaw croust or oggy. Purfect ta share
wi yaw pardy as i' aiin ta eavy. Mygar be a purdy wine! Churs!"
No, I have no idea what that's about either.
The whole thing gets a pretty sniffy write-up in The Guardian – a bit harsh for what is really a bit of harmless fun.
That said, the local dialect does seem somewhat gratuitous in both projects. It's not as if the wines come from Liverpool or Somerset, and there's no real need for cash machines to speak cockney in what is now one of the most multicultural cities in the world.
It would be much better if the use of dialect actually bore some relation to the product itself – for example, a mug typically used for Yorkshire Tea might carry some copy in a Yorkshire accent. That kind of thing. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all.
It would be nice to hear of any other sightings of this trend in action – feel free to email or stick them in the comments.
UPDATE: The wine labels were featured on Jonathan Ross on 30 October – you can see it here for the next week or so (about 5 mins to 8 mins in). Imagine they'll shift a few bottles off the back of that.