“It does exactly what it says on the tin” colloquially means that the name of something is an accurate description of its qualities. It originated in a series of television advertisements by the woodstain and wood-dye manufacturer Ronseal, initiated in 1994 and still being broadcast today.
The slogan was created by Liz Whiston and Dave Shelton at the London advertising agency HHC and the idea of the phrase was to emphasise that the company’s products would act and last for the amount of time exactly as described on the tin can.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for all adverts when it comes to the health & food industries, so you need to be careful. The example I’m using was shared on our group page last week and immediately several ladies excitedly got baking:
Blueberry and Almond Cake. No Sugar. No Butter. No Flour.
This blueberry and almond cake has no sugar, flour or butter, but it still tastes great! Make it at the weekend and serve with berries and Greek yogurt.
Makes one loaf
Ingredients
6 eggs
150g desiccated coconut
100g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder*
1 tsp vanilla extract
Small pack of blueberries (150g)
Looks amazing yes?
To be exact, this cake has a total of 1680 calories, 150g of fat, 80g of which is saturated, and 28g sugar.
If the health industry was more truthful like Ronseal, the advert would have read No flour and less calories, fat and sugar than some other cakes. But how many of you would have followed the link and eagerly started baking??
And how many of you would just eat one slice (say 10th)??
You need to be careful as unfortunately not all headlines are 100% truthful.
The same goes for ‘healthy food’ packaging, where the large writing on the front may say ‘low-fat’ or ‘healthy option’, read the nutritional breakdown to ensure you understand the amount of calories, fat & sugar before buying.
Have a great day 🙂
Julie