DIARY: CRASH AND BURN - Jackie Newcombe thought she had scooped the cream of dessert clients, but it didn’t cut any custard with her fastidious editor

In the mid-80s, Premier Symmetry’s managing director Jackie

Newcombe was trying to win advertising for IPC’s new upmarket food

magazine, A la Carte.

Nouvelle cuisine was all the rage and Newcombe’s editor had issued

strict instructions that advertising had to be aesthetically pleasing

and unlikely to offend posh foodies, who the editor envisaged would make

up most of the readership.

’There were launch parties at Maxim’s and some pretty lofty ideas,’

Newcombe recalls.

’The makers of Young’s frozen creme brulee were keen to advertise and -

as it was sold in Harrods - I thought it would be possible to get it

past the editor. Young’s had never advertised before but I persuaded the

company to book eight pages, so I was pretty chuffed.

’But I was quickly deflated when, back at the office, the editor

insisted on having the creme brulee tasted by a panel consisting of

herself and five cronies.

’We drove to Harrods and bought six boxes of the dessert. Three members

of the panel liked it and three of them weren’t so impressed. This meant

it got the thumbs down. I resigned soon afterwards.’

This article was first published on Campaign