VisitBritain nails its colours to the mast

VisitBritain, formerly the British Tourist Authority, is doing it’s damnedest to persuade those stay-at-home Yanks to grab a passport and fly over to dear old Blighty with their bundles of tourist dollars.

It’s an uphill struggle but VisitBritain is willing to lie down with some strange bedfellows in its battle – witness its support of the launch of a new nail varnish range from Opi Cosmetics called The British Collection.

Our esteemed tourist body gets its marque on all the US glossy magazine advertising and has organised a prize draw to win a trip to London. The 12-strong Opi range has some off-the-wall names such as Blushingham Palace, Chocolate Shakespeare (no, the Diary doesn’t get that one either), My Throne for a Cranberry Scone (works, depending if you’re a Southern softy), Friar, Friar Pants On Fire and Abbey Rose.

While playing the nail varnish naming game, we thought more appropriate British monikers might be: Chicken Tikka Stain, Roll Up Rizla Yellow, Road Rage Rouge and Lager Lout’s Shout. Still, let’s just hope if we scratch their back, the Americans will scratch ours…