High Five: Let's Talk about Cheese
I set out to loosely organise this list around campaigns that were funny, insightful and light-hearted. But as I got going, I realised almost all the ideas I chose related to food (specifically cheese) in some way. Maybe my stomach subconsciously guided me through this. Either way, here are five great campaigns that I found inspiring - and appetising, apparently...
Goldfish - 'Boban Hand Dish'
Goldfish’s partnership with Boban Marjanović had me smiling back. They made a bowl in the exact size and shape of Boban’s hand, which can apparently hold 301 cheesy crackers. A lot of celebrity endorsements can be trite or random but this is a perfect fit. The Goldfish tone suits Boban’s silly vibe and larger-than-life personality (and body). This is exactly the kind of thing I would do if I were 7’3” and had hands the size of a small car.
Black Diamond - 'For Trade: One Cheestring'
Agency: Broken Heart Love Affair
Broken Heart Love Affair put up an unbranded billboard in Yonge and Dundas Square that invited people to call in trade offers for a single Cheese String. The copy on the Craigstlist-style ad was great: “No lowballs. I know what I have.” People offered up some wild stuff, like Shaq rookie cards, a yacht, someone’s pregnant girlfriend. I’m not sure what they ended up accepting. Hopefully the yacht...
Pizza Pizza - 'Fixed Rate Pizza'
Agency: Zulu Alpha Kilo
Production: Steam Films
Production: Steam Films
Post: Zulubot
Sound: Doane Music
To accommodate rising inflation, Pizza Pizza pledged to lock their XL pizzas at $16.99 for a year. It’s real, it probably drove sales, and it’s right on target, seeing as the venn diagram of pizza lovers and inflation haters is a circle that encompasses the entire world. The best part is their launch video styled like a mortgage ad (the couple saying “we can finally afford our dream pizza” cracked me up.)
Buscopan - 'Fashion Cramps'
An important reminder that there are some people who can’t eat cheese so easily. Buscopan, a medicine to treat stomach cramps and IBS, ran a series of models clutching their stomachs in high-fashion poses. The copy, styled like a fashion editorial, draws attention to IBS symptoms: "This look is incomplete without his poignant stomach ache brought to you by the fifth attempt at passing his driving test and his on-going IBS." Admittedly I’m not 100% sure whether they’re being facetious or just driving awareness of IBS. But either way… I B impressed.
Philadelphia Cream Cheese - 'A Little Taste of Hell'
Agency: Rethink
Sound: Vapor Music
If you have IBS, do NOT eat Philly’s Little Taste of Hell. It’s the world’s hottest cream cheese, measured at 1,041,427 scoville heat unit - 208 times hotter than Jalapeno. This is Rethink work, led by the creative team of Nick Noh and Jordan Darnbrough (great dudes). Do yourself a favour and watch the launch video, where the angelic Philly theme song mutates into nightmarish heavy metal (Dustin Anstey from Vapor nailed it) as the cream cheese plummets into the depths of hell.
