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Halifax Howard comes out against ‘woke’ pronoun badges

Halifax Howard unveils his double at Madame Tussauds - Anwar Hussein / Alamy Stock Photo
Halifax Howard unveils his double at Madame Tussauds - Anwar Hussein / Alamy Stock Photo

Howard from the Halifax adverts has recorded an anti-woke protest song criticising “fake diversity”.

The unlikely culture wars champion released “What Happened?” on Friday, in which he rails against diversity, gender identity labels and pronouns.

Howard Brown, who won fame by appearing in Halifax adverts over the years, warned against “lecturing people about politics”.

In the protest song, written and produced by comedian Dominic Frisby, he says: “I feel I must speak out, I need to know what all this madness is about”.

The lyrics are critical of gender identity labels, asking “is there a new pronoun every day?”, and “why do you hector me with your identity?”

The music video points to a name badge with the pronouns “ze/zir” and cuts to a clip of an “unconscious bias training” sign on an office table.

He also uses the song to take a jab at the idea that “suddenly opinions are now facts” and that “everybody is scared of being attacked”.

The song also takes a stab at people lecturing “wretched ESG” and “fake diversity”, saying “I’m not your enemy”.

Mr Brown’s music video and song follows major discussions surrounding woke culture, something he claims has led us “badly astray”.

The TV advert star first appeared on people’s screens in 2000 with a cover version of a Tom Jones song.

He was propelled to national fame and fronted Halifax’s adverts for eight years while remaining a customer sales representative for the company in the West Midlands.

While he no longer works at the bank, his gender and diversity criticisms come after a change in Halifax policy which saw staff wearing name badges labelled with pronouns last year.

Customers called for Howard’s return after Halifax revealed that it would allow staff to display their pronouns on their name badges, in a Twitter post that read “pronouns matter”.

It was introduced to avoid customers from misgendering trans or non-binary staff.

The former customer service representative branded the decision “disgraceful” while urging the bank to leave “politics to the politicians”.

Mr Frisby, the writer and producer of “What Happened?”, is a well-known comedian and financial writer who makes “amusing, though unacceptable songs” about topical subjects.

After he uploaded the video to his website yesterday, he said: “A new alliance has been forged.

“Your intrepid troubadour has teamed up with Howard from the Halifax ads to make a protest song.”

The video, which is set in a spoof modern-day workplace full of employees lecturing one another, ends with the staff bowing to an icon of a deified Greta Thunberg, pictured with a halo around her head with hands clasped in prayer.