Scam-busting, stunts and social media – the consumer champions fighting the cost-of-living crisis
Joe Lycett, comedy avenger
The 33-year-old comedian and television presenter hosts his own consumer comedy hybrid show for Channel 4 called Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back, which won the 2021 Royal Television Society Award for best formatted factual. In 2020, Lycett changed his name by deed poll to Hugo Boss as a protest against the company of the same name sending cease and desist letters to small businesses. Last year he took on oil giant Shell for greenwashing, highlighting their emissions in a parody advert in which Lycett appeared as CEO Ben Van Beurden “repeatedly shitting out of his mouth”.
What started me off was seeing the way my parents were treated by the companies they worked for. For most of her working life, my mum worked for Cadbury. It started out as a brilliant company that really looked after their staff – they built a whole village in Bournville, with all sorts of things for wellbeing. But gradually, as Cadbury was sold off to Kraft (now known as Mondelez), all of that started to be eroded. Big corp stripped away what Cadbury made great, and it’s no longer the pride of Birmingham. Frankly, we’re a little embarrassed by it.
Growing up, I had that sense of: “Well, that’s just not good enough!” Our local bus company refused to give change: if you only had a fiver for a £3 journey, they’d just keep the £2. They said it was dangerous for the drivers, and slowed the buses down. So I wrote to every other bus company in the UK, who all offered change, asking: “Why do you give change? It’s dangerous for your drivers and it slows the buses down!” Every single one got back to me with reasons why that was wrong. Eventually, I met the Birmingham company and said: “Here’s every bus company in the UK telling you why your policy is bullshit.” It felt so good, like I was the Erin Brockovich of the Midlands. I called the campaign: Time for Change. I actually think they still don’t give change, so while a good approach, not the result I was after.
I worry a big part of why I do things is because it’s addictive to be right or to show someone up. It’s not altruism – though, obviously,
