In these times of geopolitical strife, 2012 might seem like a simpler time: bicycle gears only went up to 11, Lance Armstrong was still a sporting hero and, here in the UK, a nation in the grip of Olympic fever had made a celebrity out of a humble singing market trader trying to tempt female customers into buying inexpensive seafood from his East London fish stall.
For those who may have misremembered, the original One Pound Fish video quickly went viral, spawning an X-Factor appearance for its creator and a dance version of the song complete with music video that reached number 28 in the UK charts.
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It turns out that London-based e-bike hire firm Forest certainly didn’t forget about One Pound Fish Man, securing his services to promote £1 rides instead of £1 fish on this occasion. The video (embedded above) has proved a hit all over again on social media, and 14 years since his first fishy rodeo, One Pound Fish Man is sounding better than ever.
How did this materialise? Is it actually all just AI, as a few people have asked in the comments? Luckily, Forest brand manager Joe Rampley was kind enough to answer our burning questions…
ebiketips: So… how on earth did the idea to recruit One Pound Fish Man to promote e-bike rentals in London come about then?
Joe: We knew that we wanted to do something memorable to celebrate our new pricing structure, which allows Londoners to cycle up to 30 minutes for just £1. Believe it or not, ‘One Pound Fish Man’ came up in our very first campaign meeting. What started as a tongue-in-cheek suggestion quickly gained momentum, and we realised this simple idea had the potential to actually be one of the best we’ve ever had.
How long – from concept through to pressing send – did the whole thing take to do?
The whole process took around 4 weeks from start to finish. The first step was reaching out to the £1 Fish Man via Instagram (or Shahid as we now know him), then convincing our CMO, Michael Stewart, that it was a good idea. Luckily, once we reminded him of the original One Pound Fish Man video, he saw our vision!
Next, we got to work writing a script (rhyming “if you’re running late” with “wanna buy a plate” was a particular highlight), then organising a video production company in Lahore (where Shahid is based) to film Shahid. After that, it was back to the team in the UK to edit the footage and post it across our social channels. And well, you know what happened after that.
Have you seen a healthy boost in sales/£1 rides since the video went viral?
The video has definitely raised awareness of the new pricing model. Searches for nearby £1 rides in the app have tripled since the video went live.
One Pound Fish Man’s Instagram account is simply called One Pound Fish Man. Is that his actual name?
His name is Shahid, and it’s been amazing working with him and getting to know him over the past few weeks. He’s been everything you could ask for in a collaborator: friendly, professional, and above all, a talented performer throughout this process. I mean, you’ve heard him, Shahid has an impressive voice!
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According to our sources (Wikipedia and LadBible), One Pound Fish Man had to leave the UK quite soon after he first went viral because his visa expired. Did he tell you where he’s living currently?
While One Pound Fish Man no longer lives in the UK and is based in Lahore, he remains imprinted in British pop culture. His original video was an iconic moment for so many of us, so once the idea was signed off, we were determined to bring it to life.
Is it true you have him on WhatsApp?
Our Creative Producer, Elizabeth Baillie, does. She’s informed me that Shahid ends each message with “very very good, £1 fish man.”
Can we have the number?
Nope.
Does One Pound Fish Man get free Forest Bike rides for life?
One Pound Fish Man definitely gets free Forest rides for life. You heard it here first.
Any further collabs planned?
We’d love to work with more London icons. Forest is London’s homegrown shared e-bike (the idea for Forest started in a pub garden in Notting Hill), so it makes sense to partner with the people & brands that can help us tell this story.
Forest Bike (Image Credit: Forest)
What else is going on at Forest? Any plans to expand out of London?
As a business born and bred in London, our focus is on delivering the best possible service for the city. This ethos definitely extends to our marketing strategy. We want to deliver campaigns that celebrate our London roots, empower local communities, and make people laugh.
One Pound Fish Man is still surprisingly active on social media – here’s his Instagram page, and here’s a link to Forest’s website with more info about the 30-minute £1 ride promotion.
4 thoughts on “More than you could ever possibly need to know about how e-bike hire company Forest recruited ‘One Pound Fish Man’ to star in viral social media clip”
It seems as if the bike price wars are about to kick off in London. Lime recently reduced their charges and Forest appear to have undercut them.
I like how you stuck to your planned questions, even if they’d already been answered. Forest: “Shahid, as we now know him… Lahore, where Shahid is based”. Road.cc: What’s his name? Where does he live?
I also like ~”once we explained the joke to our CEO, he thought it was funny”
[quote=quiff]I like how you stuck to your planned questions, even if they’d already been answered.[/quiff]
I would guess this was probably one of those email ‘interviews’ – i.e. they sent them a list of questions for them to answer in their own time.
Oops – meant to turn the quote off – not you! 😄