Think Essex. Think white stilettos, boy racers, fake tans, tracksuits? Now Essex, weary of this stereotypical image, is putting the record straight – with tongue firmly in cheek.
A new promotional ThisisEssex film aims to recast the narrative spawned in popular culture through the reality show The Only Way is Essex (Towie), Harry Enfield’s “Loadsamoney”, Birds of a Feather sitcom characters Sharon and Tracey and Ian Dury’s hit song Billericay Dickie.
The film, by the county’s tourist board Visit Essex, tackles head on the caricatures in a commentary featuring the lines: “We’re all boy racers. And they say we don’t have very good taste. We all have an Essex accent. We’re all a bunch of gold diggers. We all live in a concrete jungle. We all wear tracksuits. We’re not that intelligent. We’re always going ‘out, out’.”
But the lines are delivered by Essex stars, including the British rally driver Nabila Tejpar, comedian Ellie Taylor, Paralympics wheelchair racer Anne Wafula Strike, scientist Dr Miles Adcock, and Michelin-starred chefs the Galvin Brothers.
At its virtual launch, the BBC Radio Essex presenter Dave Monk said: “People have said to me on the radio that their daughters go away to university and actually lie about where they come from because they are embarrassed to say they come from Essex.”
Challenging the Essex girl tag, Tejpar said she attended university in the US, but the stereotype followed her. “When I brought up where I was from, people go ‘Oh, what, like the TV show? You don’t look like you’re from Essex’.” Tejpar, who admitted she had never watched Towie, added: “I didn’t even know there was ‘a look’.”
“Everybody has heard of Essex and there is certainly a perception of the Essex resident. But that isn’t always a reflection of the reality,” said Mark Durham, the vice-chair of Visit Essex.
“Many regard it as being a London overspill, or know it for Southend, Clacton, jellied eels, pie and mash,” he added. Fewer thought about its “beautiful villages”, oysters, or 350-mile coastline, “the longest in the country, though Cornwall sometimes disputes that, but they include their islands”.
“If it’s nightclubs and beauty salons and nail bars that are your thing, clearly we’ve got plenty of those. But Essex is also a really good place for quiet walks, boat trips, paddle boarding, seal watching, wine tasting, spa breaks, cycling and watching wildlife in our nature reserves. Or just having a great meal out, and no matter what happens, hopefully we will still be able to do that.”
Essex county council launched its campaign after research showing perceptions of Essex were often a barrier for visitors, students and potential residents. It wants the focus to be on its achievements and its diversity. Visit Essex has recruited ambassadors for its campaign including the crime writer Martina Cole, who said: “The Essex stereotype is an untrue, outdated myth and needs to be banned. I am proud to be #IAmAnEssexGirl.”
Adcock, the president of space and quantum at Teledyne e2v in Chelmsford, which leads on quantum technology in many areas for the UK, said: “Pretty much every radiotherapy machine in the world is powered by the components we make here. And most of the images of space you will ever see, and of earth, are taken using sensors designed and built here in Chelmsford.”
He loved living in Essex, he said, but getting the message across was challenging. “When I was called about this job, the person that contacted me was almost apologetic about the location.”
Durham said the film was created “once and for all to take on the Essex stereotype”. Acknowledging this was not the greatest timing for a promotional launch, he added: “We are not necessarily encouraging people to come to the county, because let’s face it, that is difficult at the moment. But we want people to see Essex in a different light, so that when we are in better times they can come and enjoy what we have.”