Burberry elevates the ordinary once again

In a week dominated by Kellogg’s and Cadbury’s, a grandma in a raincoat caught the attention of SHOOK's co-founder, Gemma Moroney.

I’m not writing about the Cadbury’s ‘sharing’ packaging, or the Kellogg’s OG, because that’s more than covered. Nope, today I’m writing about a tiny little reel, shot by Burberry and featuring Grime Gran, in an iconic Burberry raincoat.

If you’ve not had the pleasure, ‘Grime Gran’ is called Marge in real life. She’s about 86, according to the internet, and she’s Bethnal Green, born and bred. She came to fame thanks to her grandson (and her no-holds-barred opinions). She’s since amassed 189K followers and even an E4 series, which was kinda like Chicken Shop Date, but in a caff and with a nan, rather than the queen that is Dimoldenberg with poultry.

I have a soft spot for Marge because she reminds me of my husband’s nan, the iconic Nanny Lil (RIP), who was never short of gold jewellery or unfiltered advice.

The reel sees Marge talking about her life, style and relationship with Burberry. And it seems to be part of a much bigger, ‘Humans of New York’ style series that Burberry’s absolutely banging out (c’mon we’ve all put a HONY ‘inspired’ idea in a deck).

Marge is Portrait 003, preceded by actress Joanna Lumley (001) and public speaker Sosa (002). She’s sandwiched between them and actor Richard E Grant (004) and pro-skateboarder Savannah (005). I’m sort of hoping they have some fun with whoever 007 is. Idris, for example…

The reel is such a small bit of creative, so why do I like it?

Well, first of all, it’s authentic (bleurgh). An over-used word, but what do we really mean when we say that? We mean real, true to life, unfiltered. Marge is all these things. She’s unapologetically ‘her’.

In the reel, there are no bones made about the fact Marge doesn’t have a closet full of Burberry. She’s got a scarf, but she’s put it away so safe she can’t find it. Its not trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Instead, it's accepting the truth that we’d all like a bit more Burberry in our lives.

Authenticity also means knowing where you’re from and what you’re about. Something Marge and Burberry share: proud London roots.

The ad continues Burberry’s current ‘elevating the ordinary’ vibe (Is that its strategy? I don’t know. It feels like it. I’d love to know what it is). I point you to the previous film of Cole Palmer, the most extraordinary yet ordinary player of recent times (and I say that as a Spurs fan), making a cuppa in a duffel coat. ‘Cos that’s Burberry, isn’t it? The ordinary, elevated. Simple stuff, done exquisitely.

The third reason I like Marge’s reel and the campaign is it’s just beautifully random. 

One of the key trends for social for 2025 is apparently ‘Randomness Wins’. I couldn’t predict who Portrait 006 will be, but I do know it will be someone interesting and, yes, authentically them. In having such a broad range of people, they’re covering a broad customer base and broader fan base.

And finally, Marge looks totally knockout in that raincoat, doesn’t she? I get the sense she’s delighted to be in (I assume) a freebie one. In that moment, Marge is all of us.

Images courtesy of TikTok campaign.