Mr Kipling is a brand of cakes made and sold in the UK, they are owned by Manor Bakeries, who also own
Cadbury’s cakes and Lyons Cakes and are exported to
America,
Australia, the
Middle East and
Europe. Mr Kipling is the best selling cake brand in the UK and are especially famous for their
apple pie's. Products include;
Battenberg's, French Fancies,
Bakewell Tart's and Apple and Custard Lattice Pies. Their website boasts that Mr Kipling can make 864 French Fancies a minute, though it declines to note if this is single handed.
The brand was established in 1967 and has been a leader in the cake industry ever since, they re-launched in 2001 with a new image and a huge advertising campaign by
Saatchi & Saatchi. Mr Kipling has been advertising on television since very early in its life and it is this which makes it a
household name in the UK. Adverts always featured Mr Kipling himself, or rather the three actors who have played him, in a range of interesting situations, and the
catchphrase,
“He does make exceedingly Good cakes.”
This catchphrase has been used in comedy sketches by both
Dawn French and
The Fast Show, and in the latest adverts it takes on a comic slant. We see Mr Kipling do a series of terrible things to people’s pets, children and possessions, while they stand by and eat his cakes, “Mr Kipling drowned Snowy” cries a small boy who’s dog was led into a river by Mr Kipling and a Stick. “But he does make exceedingly good cakes” replies Mother, handing weeping child a cake. The reappearance of a very
unkempt Snowy preserves the family theme perfectly.
The new Mr Kipling website features lots of information about there cakes, alongside lurid colours and the most bizarre game I’ve ever seen. It’s a small
Flash application, which features four children who resemble
Penny Arcade characters. Apparently all the
Bouncy Castles in “Cakeland” have been stolen by the “dire Doctor Dullcakes”, evil villain
extraordinaire, he declares war with the classic line,
“I am a nasty man and I have a nasty plan…. Ha-ha-ha-ha!”
Using the “Mr Kipling Bounce Machine” you must defeat Dr Dullcakes to save the day. All in
magenta and
cyan as well. Very, very strange game, but he does make
exceedingly good cakes.
Play this exceedlingly strange debacle at www.mrkipling.co.uk, if you must.