Literature

National Limerick Day: giffgaff teams up with three Insta-poets to celebrate the power of small

Launched to coincide with National Limerick Day (Saturday May 12th), the three limericks have been created by Romlynn RamosBabak Ganjei and Max Wallis

giffgaff commissions three limericks exploring the idea of small versus big – a concept explored in their latest brand campaign

‘Not Like Them’ – Romlynn Ramos
We are the small:
We are the solution
—The visionaries & not the pollution
We’re not like them
We are for all
—The fighters of inclusion


‘Home Made’ – Babak Ganjei
There’s a problem
With greed in our
culture,
As if BIG is for some
reason better,
but for those with
backbone,
The SMALL stand alone,
I’ve explained in this
handwritten letter


‘ILY’ – Max Wallis
T’was a small thing – a love letter in text,
“Hello, hey, hi?” Now he’s vexed
A kiss from a number
he doesn’t remember,
and a selfie that has him perplexed!


giffgaff, the mobile network run by its community, has partnered with three dynamic poets from the UK to celebrate the power of small through a series of brand new limericks. Released to coincide with National Limerick Day (12th May), the poems use the small poetic format of the limerick to deliver a powerful message personal to three handpicked poets.

The poets – Romlynn Ramos, Babak Ganjei and Max Wallis – were commissioned by giffgaff because of their unique viewpoint on the world, and because they were known for producing poetry that fitted perfectly with giffgaff’slatest brand campaign, ‘Small vs. Big’.

In this campaign, the focus has been placed on how small behaviour, exemplified by youthful exuberance and a natural, understated confidence, can have a huge impact in the world – particularly at a time where there is a lot of big talk in both the real world and online.

Romlynn Ramos, a songwriter and internationally published poet, has created ‘Not Like Them’ – a limerick that talks about how the small are visionaries who stand up in a world of big, which is perceived to be a problem.

Artist Babak Ganjei has created ‘Home Made’ for National Limerick Day. In his poem, Babak has explored the idea of big being seen as better in modern day culture, but how small behaviour, and having backbone, is the strongest type of behaviour.

The third poet, Max Wallis, has written ‘ILY’, alight hearted view on modern dating – and how a small thing can in fact have a big impact on someone’s life.

Tom Rainsford, Brand Director at giffgaff said, “This year, we have a focus on communicating a bold point of view in a small way. That’s why we wanted to do something for National Limerick Day – using a small but mighty poetry form to make an impact. The poets we’ve chosen, understand the power of language and poetry to deliver a message. We asked them to work with the concept of Small vs. Big and love their three different takes on it”

All the poems can be viewed on the poet’s Instagram feeds (Will be posted May 12th): Romlynn RamosBabak Ganjei and Max Wallis

Jess Young

Jess is a writer at the UK's largest independent press agency SWNS. She runs women's real-life magazine Real-Fix.com, as well as contributing articles and features to all of the major titles and digital publications.

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