User:The C of E/taxman

Hector the Tax Collector, also known as, Hector the Taxman was the advertising figurehead of the former British government taxation department, Inland Revenue and was originally intended to remind people to return their self-assesment tax returns on time.

History
Hector was first used in 1996 as the advertising personality of self assesment tax returns and also as a way to put a human face on the Inland Revenue. He was voiced in television adverts by Alec Guinness. It was believed that the usage of Hector helped Inland Revenue to reach their targets due to a rise in awareness of self-assesment tax returns which was attributed to Hector. Hector eventually became so popular that he became associated with the whole Inland Revenue rather than just the self assessment tax returns campaign.

In 2001, Inland Revenue stopped using Hector in it's advertising. The then head of Inland Revenue stated that the reason for dropping Hector was because he was "too white, too male and too middle aged to represent the Revenue". Hector was replaced in the Inland Revenue's advertising by Mrs Doyle from TV comedy, Father Ted.

Public opinion
Hector was considered a marketing success. Merchendise to support Inland Revenue's advertising campaign featuring Hector was produced in large quantities.

However the character of Hector was not popular with Inland Revenue's staff, some of whom believed that Hector's image was not appropriate for the time.

Impact
In 2011 supporters of Scottish association football club, Celtic started to use images and masks of Hector to insult supporters of their Old Firm rivals Rangers by referring to Rangers' tax problems with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.