It Does What It Says On The Tin

In 1994, Dave Shelton and Liz Whiston had to create an advertising campaign for the British wood stain and preservative manufacturer ‘Ronseal’. At the time flashy slogans were popular. Instead they decided to focus on a simple and to the point television advert.

Needing a punchy tagline to finish the ad, they wrote ‘Does exactly what it says on the tin’. Ronseal sales shot up, and the slogan became part of everyday language in Britain.

Yesterday afternoon hundreds of people watched as Princess Anne officially opened Lowestoft’s Gull Wing Bridge. She said: ‘The Gull Wing bridge is unique in many respects and I am sure that the people of Lowestoft will not only make very good use of it, but really appreciate it.’

She unveiled a plaque which states: ‘’THE GULL WING BRIDGE, OPENED BY HRH PRINCESS ROYAL, 19^TH NOVEMBER 2024’. Clear, simple, factual. It does what it says on the tin… or the plaque.

Yesterday morning, across our driveway was parked a large van towing a big tree surgeon’s shredder. A man explained that he was working for a neighbour on a large conifer at the end of our gardens. He could also work for us on that tree – £400 – cash.

After a long, quite unpleasant discussion he drove away. He wasn’t working for a neighbour. It was a scam – a false slogan on a non-existent container. It didn’t do what it said on the tin.

This morning I reflected on the words of the old hymn ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’:

…O what peace we often forfeit
O what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer…

Some of my friends would say it’s a scam alleged to work for a non-existent neighbour. If it’s clear, simple, factual, ‘it does what it says on the tin’, then my attitude to prayer needs to be overhauled as I re-affirm:

What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!