A popular pub in Manchester city centre is giving you the chance to get £1 off a pint of Stella, simply if you say “please”.
It’s all part of the ‘Stella Please’ campaign by Stella Artois and Hospitality Action.
With the festive season fast approaching and Christmas only around the corner, the two brands have joined forces for a new campaign that is calling for politeness towards hospitality workers during this busy period as “manners don’t cost a thing”.
New research among hospitality workers from Stella Artois and YouGov has revealed that 41% of those surveyed are concerned that customers will be ruder this festive season, with 40% reporting that customers’ rude behaviour has got worse since lockdown measures lifted earlier this year, and so, to help tackle these eye-opening findings and encourage respectful behaviour, the campaign has been launched today.
Fiery chef Marco Pierre White has even got himself involved with the campaign too, as having been in the industry for 30 years means he knows a thing or two about the inconsiderate behaviours of Christmas revellers.
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Research has also found that not using essential manners like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ (78%) is the most common form of discourteous behaviour experienced by the 1,000 hospitality workers who were approached as part of the survey. This is followed by complaining about the cost of services/products (64%), talking on phone whilst interacting with them (49%), with 71% sharing that they have experienced rudeness from customers.
Not only do manners not “cost a thing”, they can even say you a few pennies in a handful of pubs across major UK cities.
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The Bay Horse Tavern in the Northern Quarter is the Manchester’s pub that’s taking part.
The Bay Horse Tavern in the Northern Quarter is the Manchester’s pub that’s taking part in the ‘Stella Please’ campaign / Credit: Facebook (The Bay Horse Tavern) | Stella Artois
Customers simply need to say “Can I have a Stella, please” when placing their order, and in return will receive £1 off their pint – but that’s not all though, as for each pint ordered, a donation by Stella Artois will also be made to Hospitality Action to support hospitality workers during their busiest season in years.
“Christmas can be a difficult time of year for hospitality workers, even more so this year with many preparing for an unpredictable, yet their busiest festive season in years,” said Tim Ovadia – Global Vice President at Stella Artois.
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“We wanted to raise awareness on the pressure the hospitality workers may face this season and our research shows how small acts of kindness from the public really can go a long way for them.”
Customers simply need to say “Can I have a Stella, please” when placing their order, and in return will receive £1 off their pint / Credit: Twitter (@StellaArtois)
UK-based charity Hospitality Action has been helping hospitality staff get back on their feet after a tough 18 months, with the company’s Chief Executive Mark Lewis adding: “Verbal abuse towards hospitality staff is a serious issue and as research indicates, things have unfortunately intensified since the end of lockdown.
“We praise the efforts of Stella Artois and Marco in helping spread awareness of this important issue and getting the nation to show kindness to the hospitality industry during this busy time of year for them.
“Hospitality staff will bend over backwards to ensure you enjoy the festive season, so please show them some kindness in return.”
The Stella Please campaign is the latest initiative from Stella Artois to support the hospitality industry and workers as they continue to get back to work after lockdown, and comes after the brewer also launched Stella Tips when pubs re-opened earlier in the year to give out £500,000 in tips to hospitality staff in UK pubs – with staff offered £1 for each pint of Stella they pulled.
ITV to be bought out by Sky in transformational British broadcasting deal worth £1.6 billion
Danny Jones
In a watershed moment for British broadcasting, Sky has reached a transformational agreement worth more than £1.6 billion to buy out ITV in a landmark takeover deal.
With Sky already owned by US telecommunications corporation Comcast, this is set to be one of the biggest shakeups in TV and streaming for some time.
Talks actually started last November, but the process to complete a buyout like this has obviously taken a significant amount of time and money already.
It’s also worth noting that the deal is still pending full approval from the relevant regulators; nevertheless, it’s fair to say that it could change the face of the British media giants – who are based here in Greater Manchester over at MediaCity – but might signal a significant overhaul of our media landscape.
The Sky Group have assured there will be no immediate change to popular shows and will not be put behind a paywall at present (for now, anyway), with ITV still under a free-to-air service until 2034 as part of its public licensing contract.
Aquisitons/mergers of this size like this don’t come around very often, at least not across this side of the pond, with the growing Disney’s growing multinational monopolisation being one of the biggest examples of conglomerates mopping up major networks and huge brands over the past decade.
Writing in a statement, Sky said: “The UK media market is undergoing a profound and rapid transformation, and as competition for audiences intensifies, scale matters more than ever in order to compete with global streaming giants and YouTube in the UK.
“Viewers will continue to enjoy the shows they know and love, such as Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Love Island, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, This Morning, Loose Women, Lorraine and News at Ten – alongside major live sporting events.”
That lattermost example feels particularly poignant at the moment, as this also means that the likes of ITV’s impressive World Cup coverage will come under the Sky umbrella in the near future.
ITV agrees sale of media and entertainment business to Sky for up to £1.6bnhttps://t.co/UtgO9REejy
It’s being seen as an ambitious attempt to shake up traditional terrestrial telly and digital platforms, with the ‘old guard’, as it were, having to move forward and fast to keep up with the mercurial market becoming evermore dominated by streaming services.
Of course, there are plenty raising questions and concerns over yet another domestic institution becoming deeper and deeper entwined with big American business; on the other hand, former ITV chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette, who still owns shares, says the deal was “essential” for its survival.
ITV will also receive £1.2bn in cash and Sky’s Love Productions business in return for ownership of their media and entertainment arm, whose shows include the Great British Bake Off.
Moving forward, ITV will also get a further £200m in 2028 if they meet revenue targets when it comes to advertising, with Sky promising to spend over £2.1bn on content from ITV Studios over a five-year period. You can read the full update from ITV right HERE.
Featured Images — James West (via Flickr)/Publicity picture
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Wayne Rooney ‘agrees’ to bizarre bet ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals
Danny Jones
England and Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has seemingly roped himself into a bizarre bet of his own making after yet more teams booked their place in the quarter-final stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
It’s not quite Gary Lineker doing Match of the Day in his underpants after Leicester won the league, level, but we’d still pay to see it.
However, after the bedlam following England booking their spot in the quarter-finals this morning (feels odd to say and we’re still not quite sure what day it is), you might be surprised to learn it has nothing to do with the Three Lions’ historic victory.
It does have to do with who they’ll be facing in their next game, though: Norway, as Rooney seemed confident enough in his prediction that the Scandinavian side wouldn’t make it into the final eight that he wagered he’d row down the River Mersey. Well, they did…
Yes, in case you missed it, the Norwegians did make it past Brazil with a 2-1 win – and, of course, more goals for Erling Haaland – before Thomas Tuchel’s side had barely even woken up for their very long day at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico.
While no one was quite sure why ‘Wazza’ was quite so confident that the ‘Seleção’ were going to go through, especially since Norway had shown just as much star power in spells in the opening four rounds, he still decided to throw down the gauntlet on himself.
As you can see in the clip above, he says he’s a “man of [his] word” and looks to have even roped in the likes of fellow former pros turned punditry colleagues on the night, Micah Richards and Joe Hart.
That being said, he did make the caveat that perhaps it would be better if the BBC could somehow sort them to sail down the Hudson River in New York instead, simply for the sake of ‘time’.
We’re not sure exactly how easy it is for the British broadcasters to simply secure permission to take a rowboat down one of the busiest and most famous waterways in the world, but you never know.
Here’s hoping they at least try to make something happen, anyway.
There’s been plenty of curious and comedic moments already this tournament, but for anyone who hasn’t yet watched Harry Kane’s post-match following the tense 3-2 thriller against Mexico, you really need to.
He was given the chance to chat to the media once again after his voice recovered, but let’s just say the memes that have already come from THAT interview are almost as memorable as the match itself.
Emily Sergeant -
7th December 2021 
