Time for food to do the talking not the witty packaging, says Leon founder Dimbleby

WITH upbeat slogans such as “get in fella!” and first person messages like “eat me!” it has transformed the way food and drink is sold.

But so called chatty packaging – or “wackaging” – may be past its sell-by date. One of Britain’s leading food gurus is calling time on the habit of dressing up products with chummy asides and clever witticisms.

Henry Dimbleby, founder of the Leon chain of fast-food restaurants, said it was patronising and childish, and had started to put off many shoppers. Mr Dimbleby told

“I hate being talked to by bottles and product packaging as if I’m their best friend.” The phenomenon began with Innocent smoothies in 1999, creating an informal way to give information about a product’s ingredients and benefits.

Over the years it was taken up with alacrity by marketing agencies desperate to appeal to hip young consumers.

Salad producer Fresh & Naked has called one of its bags of lettuce Cheeky Little Mix (geddit?), while Tyrrells offers jaunty suggestions with their crisps, such as “perfect with a pork pie hat at a rakish angle”. One Pret a Manger bottled drink declared: “Best when chilled (as indeed we all are)”.

But Mr Dimbleby, a former management consultant, says the whole thing has got out of hand. “Every so often I take photos of it and write to a few firms to complain.”