Minicase: Witty, Irreverent, a Little Over the Top?
Kraft, the 109-year old cheese company, released a new ad campaign in 2011 for its Athenos line of hummus, combining shock value, social media, and a little stereotyping. A young woman, Michelle, serves her friends Athenos hummus, and a Greek yiayia, or grandmother, comments that Michelle dresses like a prostitute. The hostess does a verbal double-take and the Greek grandmother repeats the word "prostitute" for good measure. Then the narrorator points out that at least Yiayia endorses Athenos hummus. "Athenos may be the only thing approved by Yiayia," goes the tagline.
The ad is part of Kraft's efforts to shed its stodgy image and appeal to the denizens of Facebook and Twitter. In other recent efforts, Kraft has shown parents being arrested for eating their children's macaroni and cheese, handed out macaroni and cheese through Twitter, held a contest in which divorcing couples can win money if their split resulted from differences over Miracle Whip, and made the Yiayia popular enough to claim more than 150,000 Facebook hits.
Another ad features a couple declaring that they eat Athenos yogurt for breakfast, before Yiayia informs them they are going to hell for not being married. In another, the yiayia calls a stay-at-home husband a "wife."
Some Greeks have reported that they found the ads offensive, yet the ads may have persuaded a number of people to try hummus (although at least one commenter maintains that hummus isn't actually a Greek food at all).
Questions:
- View the ads. Did you find them offensive?
- Do you think such ads will help Kraft shed its older stodgy image?
- can you develop a similar campaign for another old-line brand or product that needs updating?