Archive for the ‘Food’ Category:
Really good stereotypers
Recently, I’ve been working on a minority-focused campaign, and it’s done nothing but made me ask lots of questions. Now, for a typical white guy working in the ad industry, I am blessed to both work for a minority-owned firm and have very candid relationships with several black people I work with, which means they will give me nothing but honest feedback on whether or not an idea is treading too close to that mythical line of offensiveness. And for our whole creative team, that’s an invaluable asset. But this process has made me analyze the way other brands flail in their attempts to market to segments by ethnography instead of demography. All that’s to say: I don’t think anybody is getting minority-targeted marketing right.
I really loathe Popeye’s new stuff
Wow. I couldn’t believe the first few Popeye’s spots when they aired recently. I honestly thought I was watching a spot from the 70s when racial stereotyping was the way to go in advertising. Not only is the character portrayal amazingly stereotypical, but it’s also just bad work.
Now, I can easily say that about 10% of my loathing is nothing more than jealousy to work on a brand like Popeye’s, and about 40% of it is the fact that an Austin agency did a horrendous job representing the flavor of New Orleans. For someone who once lived in the Crescent City, I am really disappointed at the rebrand. They aimed incredibly low (fleur-de-lis and saxaphones) to hit people’s trite, hackneyed stereotypes of New Orleans with the brand work, so why would I expect anything less from their tv work? I mean, really, has anybody on that account been to New Orleans other than the Quarter or during Mardi Gras? OK, and the Garden District to see Trent Reznor’s house? There is so much life and culture and color that bubbles out of every stinky sewer, sweaty restaurant and great recipe in that retchedly awesome town that you would think somebody could throw up a red flag and say, “Um, this work is incredibly lame.” It’s like doing a MEGA-DEALS promo for BMW. That’s not how you sell something as awesome as the food of New Orleans. Granted, I kinda dig the tagline, but the rest of the brand is really just lame. Anybody could slap a Church’s, Captain D’s, Long John Silver’s, Chubby’s, etc logo on the work, and nobody would know the difference.
What’s that?
You used orange?
That’s what makes it unique?
Oh, and you slapped a fleur-de-lis all up on it.
Got it. My bad.
The fact is, it’s just over the top, stereotypical, mediocre work. This looks somebody brought in some old hired guns that was passed their prime when Copperplate was in vogue. The tv in particular is just awful. Granted, there’s a nugget of a good idea in there. I can see it, but it doesn’t come out on the screen. Having a “fried chicken expert” in the kitchen of your store is neat. Real neat. Like this one sassy lady cooks all the chicken in all your stores, or at least macro manages all 400 of your corporate and franchisee stores across the country. That seems very plausible. Wait a minute, scratch that nugget comment.
So where does the campaign go from here? Do we get more racial, more trite and more muddled with other fried-centric brands? Or do you focus on the idea that makes Popeyes unique among all QSR competitors: Louisiana, Fast.
And I hate to say this (because PC I am not), but if their agency were at least a minority owned firm (like we are), you could give Popeye’s a pass. But GSDM is definitely not. So good luck, Popeye’s, in cleaning this up. I think you might want to hire a minority firm to step in, clean up your work and prove that you’re not in bed with racists.
But that’s just me, the jealous, New Orleans ex-pat CD who loves good advertising and Cajun food.
Nalgene or CamelBak
There are few topics that I feel like I’m an actual expert on, and water consumption would fall under that category. I don’t know what happened, but ever since I started training for a marathon back in 2005, I’ve had a greater thirst for liquid than a piece of Ron Popeil’s best jerky. In fact, upon a recent visit to my GP where I confided with him the volume of water I consume in single day (usually more than 2 Liters), he looked over his glasses at me with this look of abject judgmentalism and said, “Don’t do that any more.” So, I’ve tried to cut back ever since then, but I still throw down quite a few fl.oz. in the course of a day. And to do that (with utmost respect for the environment) I have been using a plastic water bottle for about 4 years now. Before all the great news about BPA came out, I was a hardcore Nalgene guy. In fact, I was extra proud of my Nalgene because it was so beaten up and yet perfectly functional. Little did I know that I was probably choking down loads of carcinogens in my effort to be proud of my Earth-friendly, “I promise I’m outdoorsy” bottle, but that’s for another day.
So, when we first went to get new BPA-free water bottles, CamelBak was already on the market with a BPA free bottle that featured their patented Bite-Valve, which I do like. So, I switched brands and didn’t think much of it. That is, until my wife started complaining that hers was very hard to drink from. She said that often while teaching BodyStep, she would be dying of thirst and unable to get water out of the bottle. So, being the gentleman that I am, I suggested we switch. I can work a little harder to get some water while sitting at a desk, right? Well after a little inspection, I discovered the rubber washer inside the flip valve was way out of line and obstructing the passage of water. I immediately contacted CamelBak and was pleasantly surprised by their response:
Great. So, I send the top back, get a new one and I’m off. Well, shortly thereafter, I accidentally pull out the little stopper that allows air to flow out of the bottle and prevents water from flowing out while its upside down. The rubber tears, and I’m out a new top. Dagnabbit. So, I take my wife’s bottle back (she’s moved on) and start drinking out of it for a while. Then just last week, part of the spout breaks off. The part that allows you to easily lift it up so that you can drink from it. Observe my out of focus photo below:
Then, I thought I’d go completely in the opposite direction and use one of those bright and shiny aluminum bottles. That lasted about 2 days. I got tired of drinking water that tasted like it’d been marinating in pennies for a week and a half. So, now I’m torn. CamelBak has had excellent customer service, which I always believe in rewarding, but their products have not held up like I would expect. I’ve also had major trouble with the bite valves on my back pack (especially when I go skiing), so the quality of their products is definitely in doubt. I am thinking of giving them one more shot, and then if they don’t come through, moving back to Nalgene. This time, maybe a carcinogen free bottle is in order.