Ginsters is ditching its foodie pretensions and overtly targeting men in its latest ad in a bid to reverse declining sales.

In the £6.5m Man Plea campaign, which kicks off on 19 February, the bucolic country scenes of the old ads have made way for four new TV commercials, each taking a humorous look at the relationship between men and women, with an emphasis on the man’s eagerness to eat Ginsters products as part of his hot evening meal.

The change in strategy and record campaign investment, a year-on-year increase of £1.5m, would help the market leader boost overall brand sales, said the Samworth Brothers business.

Sales were down 4.2% to £119.2m last year, while total savoury pies and meat snacks sales were up 0.6% to £992.7m [Nielsen 52w/e 2 October 2010].

“The overall performance of Ginsters was dragged down by a recession-driven decline in impulse sales, but sales in the mults were up 6.4% year-on-year [Nielsen],” said Andy Valentine, head of brand marketing at Ginsters.

“We expect to attract one million new households to the brand on the back of the campaign and predict value sales will be up by 10% in the mults by the end of this year.”

The TV ads will be followed by an outdoor poster campaign in April aimed at the impulse sector. The posters will feature men of different ages ‘making their plea’, such as “man cannot drive on crisps alone”.

There will also be online and in-store activity.

The brand’s ‘Ginsters, Real Honest Food’ strapline will continue to feature on ads to reinforce the Ginsters quality ­message.