Halifax's new TV advert accused of airbrushing out East Yorkshire town's derelict high street


Furious residents in an East Yorkshire town have accused Halifax’s new TV advert of airbrushing out their derelict high street in a campaign that is suppossed to be ‘celebrating the community’. 

Goole residents were originally delighted when the bank chose their town for the ‘It’s a People Thing’ campaign but when the advert aired earlier this month, locals were stunned to find they hardly recognised the place.

The make-over included putting facades covering up the empty shops, and creating a fake cafe as well as a busy local market. 

Extras were hired as shoppers to show an apparently thriving high street in a town that has a higher child poverty rate than the rest of the UK. 

Residents in a town in East Yorkshire, were orginally delighted to be chosen for the filiming of the new Halifax 'It's a People Thing' TV campaign but then they saw the advert cleaned up their town

Residents in a town in East Yorkshire, were orginally delighted to be chosen for the filiming of the new Halifax ‘It’s a People Thing’ TV campaign but then they saw the advert cleaned up their town

A buzzing and happy town with a distant market in the Halifax advert and a greengrocers

The advert is contrasted with the closed shops in the real town of Goole, no market visible and a pawnshop

A buzzing and happy town with a distant market in the Halifax advert and a greengrocers. It is contrasted with the closed shops in the real town of Goole, no market visible and a pawnshop

Ramsdens pawnbrokers in Goole where the Halifax advert was filmed. The bank's branch in Goole can be seen located nearby empty shops

Ramsdens pawnbrokers in Goole where the Halifax advert was filmed. The bank’s branch in Goole can be seen located nearby empty shops

Where the advert is filmed in the old Goole area, a total of 33.1% of children are in relative poverty compared to 19.1% nationally.  

A voiceover for the advert says: ‘For the ups, the downs, and everything in between…Halifax, it’s a people thing.’ 

Halifax also transformed a pawnbroker’s shop, Ramsdens, into a green grocers, and a derelict shop next to the real bank’s branch was cropped out. 

Florence Scott, 27, a PHD student and Goole native, wrote on Twitter that it ‘looks uncanily like my town’s centre but not run down’. 

‘It was filmed there, but they put nice facades on empty shops and hired fake, non-local shoppers,’ she said. 

‘The ad is about ‘celebrating the local community’. In reality, Goole’s centre has been decimated.

‘It’s jarring to see a version of the same street, with shoppers, a greengrocers and a market instead of empty derelict shops.

‘Apparently, some locals were upset because they saw the shoot and mistakenly thought new shops had opened until Halifax packed them up and drove off. 

‘We accept that photoshop/filters and faked results in product campaigns are misleading, how is this different? Why is Halifax so ashamed to show its branch down a struggiling northern street? 

‘If you’re selling your bank as the ‘heart of the community’ be it you cowards’.  

A pawnbroker's shop was transformed into a green grocers, and a derelict shop next to the bank was cropped out. It's on the right in the real Goole

A pawnbroker’s shop was transformed into a green grocers, and a derelict shop next to the bank was cropped out. It’s on the right in the real Goole

Pawnbroker Ramsdens in the background while Halifax film the advert in Goole in December

Pawnbroker Ramsdens in the background while Halifax film the advert in Goole in December

Florence Scott, 27, a PHD student and Goole native, wrote on Twitter that it 'looks uncanily like my town's centre but not run down'

Florence Scott, 27, a PHD student and Goole native, wrote on Twitter that it ‘looks uncanily like my town’s centre but not run down’ 

The Goole native called it 'jarring' to see a different version of the same street

The Goole native called it ‘jarring’ to see a different version of the same street 

She said Halifax was making a 'convenient lie' about the town in the advert

She said Halifax was making a ‘convenient lie’ about the town in the advert

Ms Scott said why is Halifax so 'ashamed' to show a 'struggling northern street'

Ms Scott said why is Halifax so ‘ashamed’ to show a ‘struggling northern street’

Former town mayor Terry Smith said the ad should have shown ‘a proper Goole, not an airbrushed reality of our northern towns that are left behind’.

‘It’s a bit of a ghost town, it’s unrecognisable from what it was,’ said Florence, who now studies at the University of Leeds.

‘I would like to see my town on TV, but I didn’t see my town on TV, I saw a sanitised version. That’s what’s upsetting.’

Ms Scott also told the i, newspaper, while watching this advert she had ‘this strange sense like ‘this looks familiar’

But she had to ‘Google it to confirm. Then I realised just how many adjustments had been made’. 

Halifax claimed it is ‘common practice’ to make edits so shop branding is not shown in TV ads as they do not have the ‘legal right’ to show copyrighted brands.

A spokeswoman for the bank also told the MailOnline: ‘We’re proud to have filmed our latest Halifax advert in Goole and, while we preserved the scene featured as far as possible, we had no choice with some of digital edits we had to make, as we can only show branding we have the legal right to.’ 

Halifax claimed it is 'common practice' to make edits so shop branding is not shown as they do not have the 'legal right' to show copyrighted brands

Halifax claimed it is ‘common practice’ to make edits so shop branding is not shown as they do not have the ‘legal right’ to show copyrighted brands

Goole residents thought the Halifax advert with its focus on community and people was 'upsetting' for the town

Goole residents thought the Halifax advert with its focus on community and people was ‘upsetting’ for the town

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has given Goole £25 million to regenerate the town, shown in the Halifax advert

Ben Uttley, founder and chief exec of production company Stamp, said commercials are required to replace shop fronts due to copyright rules. 

However, he said the backlash should be a lesson to brands and commercial makers to strive for more realism.

‘There is a growing demand from audiences for brands to act more authentically,’ he added.

‘If you are going to claim you are at the heart of the community and you put out ads like this you are going to get called out.’

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has given Goole £25 million to regenerate the town. 

MP for Brigg and Goole Andrew Percy said in parliament this month: ‘Those who come to Goole will still see a hollowed-out town centre, as can be seen in many such towns. 

‘While we have improvements in educational standards, big investment coming in and hundreds of new homes being built, the town centre looks like it is still in decline, as is common across the country.’

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