Already omnipresent on TV, Gordon Ramsay is soon to be as ubiquitous on the high street as he becomes the ‘face’ of Thresher.
The hard-swearing superchef, whose most recent show Hell’s Kitchen is
watched with fascinated horror by millions on both sides of the Atlantic is now partnering the UK wine chain.
Poster-size mugshots of the Michelin-starred chef-turned-media star, with the strapline ‘Wines You Can Swear By’, will gaze at customers in about 1200 Thresher and Wine Rack stores across the UK.
Thresher CEO Roger Whiteside told decanter.com he was not worried that Ramsay’s swearing could put customers off.
‘Both men and women find him very appealing. He just happens to express himself in expletives,’ he said, referring to Ramsay’s extraordinarily aggressive TV persona.
Participants on the Threshers-sponsored Hell’s Kitchen USA, in which teams of trainee chefs compete against each other, regularly break down in tears under torrents of lurid abuse.
Ramsay frequently gives customers the same treatment. ‘I’ll get you more pumpkin and I’ll ram it up your f**king a*se,’ he told one hapless diner. ‘Would you like it whole or diced?’
’He’s seen as no-nonsense, and demanding high standards. The message from us to our customers is: these are quality wines that people can rely on,’ Whiteside said.
Stores will display recipe cards for dishes taken from Ramsay’s Sunday Lunch cookery book. The cards also offer his personal wine recommendations and tie in with a series of country-themed promotions, commencing with Spain and Chile.
Written by Adam Lechmere
