Recognise this critter? You perhaps ought to: you’re paying for its keep.
It’s Workie (no, I didn’t recognise it either.) It’s the Government’s £8.5m fluffy ‘physical embodiment of the workplace pension’. If you didn’t recognise it, you are not alone.
Auto enrolment pension provider Smart Pension polled more than 500 British-based firms to ask them who the much-maligned Workie most reminded them of.
The unanimous verdict was that shaggy blue giant James P Sullivan or ‘Sulley’ from Monsters Inc was the most similar to Workie, closely followed by popular peace-loving Gremlins character Gizmo. The Honey Monster from the Sugar Puffs classic advert was a distant third.
Will Wynne, co-founder and MD of pension provider Smart Pension said: “The DWP is clearly going for the lovely, cuddly pension message with this friendly giant. While he might make you think of the loud but soft-hearted Sulley, it’s interesting that the slightly more sinister Gizmo was a close second. Perhaps the unintentional message is ‘don’t let your workplace pension turn into a gremlin’. Whatever the rationale behind Workie, I’m confident he won’t turn out to be “a complete waste of £8.5m of taxpayers’ money”, as one grumpy survey respondent put it!”
I suspect Wynne’s tongue is firmly in his cheek with that last comment.
