After a foray into surreal puppetry, Marmite has moved back into the world of faux documentaries that don’t quite work. Its ‘Smugglers’ campaign follows ‘love it or hate it’ cracks at genetics and obstetrics.

This time, Marmite tells us of the 120,000 British ex-pats in New York City, who reportedly don’t have access to their favourite British spread. “Due to its scarcity, an underground ring of Marmite smugglers are being recruited in the UK,” a voiceover tells us. The ad executes the concept well, using social media videos and ‘hidden’ cameras to cleverly evoke TV reportage of illicit activity.

Except… it’s not illicit, is it? There’s no need to smuggle it – a quick Google suggests it wouldn’t be too hard to source some in the US. It’s a conceit that’s at least two decades past its sell-by date. As is pretending your product is somehow like drugs in order to make it seem ‘cool’.

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