SPLIMPLE - 2021 GOTY ENTRANT

Product Description

THE NEW NORMAL is a range of heavily satirical greetings cards, created to mock the government and celebrate how the plucky Brits face up to crises with self-effacing humour.

Tell us about your business Splimple has been publishing humorous greetings cards for 18 years. The company's owner is Stuart Caldwell who is a novelist (author of'Fart and Toast' available on Amazon - and of the soon to be published 'Beginner's guide to dipping your haddock'. Stuart wrote the NEW NORMAL range.

What can you tell us about your entered products?

Ten years ago we published 'Cheap and Miserable' which was designed to take a satirical swipe at the banking crisis. We used horrible board and awful typefaces and made the whole design very depressing ... and they sold well. Although the Covid crisis is likely to be of shorter duration we thought it was timely to tune-in to widespread disappointment in the government by creating this range. That said, we've resisted the temptation to use anything other than gentle humour and we've been careful not to offend anyone who has suffered a loss through the disease.

Why did you choose to enter Gift of the Year 2021 and has the competition helped boost your brand in the past?

Our Cheap and Miserable range ten years ago did well in the awards and we felt entry would be worthwhile.

 

Has your business been affected by Covid-19?

Yes. Trade sales in April to July were very poor - and we've again seen a massive drop in November. All staff bar one were and are furloughed, but we are a fundamentally robust business and we will emerge from this strongly. Sales direct to consumers have tripled while people have had difficulty getting to shops.

What changes have you made as a result?

None, other than utilising the furlough system.

What other products have you brought to market for 2020, can you share them here?

We acquired the licence for the California-based RED AND HOWLING range of cards, which was released in August and has been a great success. And in December we are releasing our new IN YER FACE range of cards with few words but a lot of impact, due to use of the latest polymer printing technology.

Where can your products be purchased?

We sell nationally in a wide range of outlets - but not in the large high street chains or supermarkets.