Critique of Direct Address in Marketing as Disingenuous and Patronising
Direct address in marketing, using the second-person 'you', is increasingly criticized as disingenuous and patronising rather than making customers feel valued. Examples include Alpro oat milk's use of 'Hey you!', restaurants sending messages such as 'We miss you!', and Octopus Energy bills repeatedly using 'you' without ever addressing the customer as 'Dear.'
Though not a new practice — Kodak's 1888 slogan 'You press the button, we do the rest' is an early example — direct address has become the default style of the ruling class in marketing. While studies suggest that direct-address adverts yield better responses, this effect is argued to be a manipulative illusion, with real power remaining with the brand and marketing device.
The piece also notes how AI systems like ChatGPT adopt direct address when interacting with users, illustrating the pervasiveness of this style. The author humorously remarks that if automation eventually takes his job, it might at least address him more respectfully, such as 'sir.'
The article was written by Max Fletcher, a London-based writer, and published on January 1, 2026, in The Guardian (Comment is Free).
