UK watercress farmers were certainly not one sandwich short of a picnic when they decided to send along a special guest to Ascot Ladies Day this year.
Model Rachel Littlejohns went along wearing a mouth-watering hat design of a plate of watercress sandwiches by top London designer Sean Barrett.
Upon arrival, Rachel was immediately pounced on by a horde of photographers, resulting in the hat appearing in the Daily Mail, The Times, The Sun, Daily Star, The Mirror, as well as an interview on BBC Radio One and Channel Five. The hat was also lead story on the BBC News and Sky News websites and Rachel was voted 'best dressed lady' on the BBC Radio One website.
The stunt, was developed by Wendy Akers Public Relations as part of the 'Not Just a bit on the Side campaign' for the Watercress Alliance which is comprised of Vitacress Salads, Geest and The Watercress Company.
Now its fourth year, the campaign has resulted in sales increasing by nearly £18 million a year to £55 million. Other campaign elements have included the Watercress Festival in Alresford and a comprehensive media relations campaign.
Kip Winter-Cox of the Geest commented: "We thought we'd take advantage of the fact that watercress is the fashionable leaf this summer by asking Rachel to go along to Ascot. We thought the hat would be quirky enough to turn a head or two."
