Tetley tea, new faces same old brand?

Finding a newspaper clipping i had saved form the summer nudged me in to posting it up here. The report was from 5th august regarding the relaunch of the tetley tea characters.

The illustrations are said to be under consideration still when they were published to the public; but the nostalgic relaunch of the characters who disappeared 9 years ago is looking to be a lot more blinged up than born again.

Although times must sometimes change, was this attempt to 'move with the times' destined to make or break this brand? Although an argument may be raised that the new characters will be easier for the next generation to connect with; the counter arguement raises the point asking if these are the images we want to be sending out as role-models to our children?

The brand insists that these characters have a 'modern day feel but are still quite obviously the characters viewers loved so much'. But is this 'modern-day feel' the role models that we want to be promoting to the next generation? Is this a case where 'getting down with the kids' is a brand turn-off?

The roles being promoted include a rapper who's appeared more in court than a tea factory, a WAG sporting making -up and designers gear, and business man styled on the stereotype of a mob boss.

Although the first advert of the relaunch was met with approval from consumers, with online forums naming it 'a tear- jerker' and an 'emotional nostalgic comeback'; the response to the supposedly leaked characters revamp was not been met with such positive comments.

If these are the stereotypes that have been pulled out to represent Britain, is this the image we want, or have, of the best of British?