Phil sees the fruit of Tesco generosity

Marketing Week readers may remember the story of brainy physicist Phil Calcott, the Tesco shopper who bought almost half a tonne of bananas at his local supermarket, gave them all away, made a 25 profit and earned thousands of Clubcard points.

Phil, who by coincidence is getting married in April to the best friend of Marketing Week’s own special reports editor Jo-Anne Walker, saw his life turned upside down for the following week, as press, radio and TV reporters literally went bananas over the story.

He gave an interview while in the bath to Radio 5 Live, appear-ed on Richard and Judy, and was even tracked down by a Japanese radio station.

The Diary has since learned that Tesco’s marketers, delighted with the thousands of pounds of free publicity, sent Phil a present to express their gratitude. In case readers are wondering, the gift was the princely offer of seven pineapples. If this particular example of corporate largesse is anything to go by, small wonder that Tesco continues to rake in the money.