Kraft – “The Cheesiest” spot of the week
Brand: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese w. Calcium
Execution: TV
Link: Not Yet
Target: Moms
Reviewer: David
Rating: *
Description:
Twins eat macaroni and cheese to a blues riff (the mac & cheese blues, apparently) while we learn that Kraft Mac&Cheese has double the calcium.
What Works:
Kraft is one of the best marketing companies in the world. And their advertising is often great. Here, it appears that someone was reading a training manual which said:
- People remember jingles – which can be true
- Show don’t tell – which can also be true
- Make the product the hero – generally a good idea
This spot attempts to do all three.
What Doesn’t:
The first tip-off that this spot will probably be remembered during an alcoholic binge as the low-point of an art director’s career is the use of twins to signify “twice as much” (as in CALCIUM as if it were not already screamingly obvious). This is an old, old, dead metaphor which anyone who has seen a Doublemint Gum commercial will confess now makes them queasy.
Music is not necessarily bad and I believe that a well-crafted jingle – or even a few choice bars – can be more effective than licensing a Rolling Stones song. However, I’m not sure what the Blues do to enhance this spot and the generic song seems at odds with the silly lyrics. Why do the kids have the blues, anyway if they’re happily getting their double calcium from Kraft Mac & Cheese?
The final, awful, coup de grace is the use of the tagline “it’s the cheesiest.” Which just about says it all for this spot.
Branding Bottom Line -
Kraft steals thirty seconds of your life and will never give it back.