I see dead things…

Ok …I might not actually see ‘dead things’ like the character in M Night Shayamalan’s film ‘Sixth Sense’ …but I do tend to see things a little differently than most people I come across. This can lead to some people getting their backs up about my sense of humour and my marketing strategies.

Within my current presentation I have a clip from the film ‘Alien’ where the ‘creature’ forces its way out of the stomach of John Hurt – absolute classic bit of film making and much talked about subject within film blogs (*supposedly the director Ridley Scott didn’t tell the actors that he would be spraying them with blood and guts so that their reaction to the horror would be more visceral).

In my head I see a connection:

Alien = alien species

Alien species = Japanese knotweed

The Alien in the film is very difficult to kill = so is Japanese Knotweed

The Alien in the film just keeps coming back whatever you do to it = so does Japanese Knotweed

The line in the film is ‘don’t touch it, don’t touch it…’ = very appropriate for Japanese Knotweed

The film ‘Alien’ is a horror story = so is an infestation of Japanese Knotweed

So…in my head there is a connection between the film and the ‘alien’ species which we are trying to manage and control.

I …AM.. NOT… SUGGESTING …that Japanese Knotweed – is a flesh eating monster from space…. I’m simply trying to create a memory within people’s heads that triggers when they see Japanese Knotweed!

We have also used the theme of ‘Zombies’ and the ‘Undead’ within our marketing strategies. This isn’t meant to suggest that … ‘the end of the world is nigh’ …it’s simply a play on a theme. Zombies and the ‘undead’ come back to haunt you after you think they are dead – shoot them, stab them, burn them and bury them deep in the ground….yet they still come back to cause you problems – just like Japanese Knotweed does…

So please everybody don’t take the marketing too seriously, it’s not meant to be taken literally…its meant to bring a little bit of graveyard humour to a serious topic…

…and on that note – please look out for the launch of our latest campaign

’28 Weeks Later’…