Is it ever a good time to make light of #hunger in advertising?

If any of your Facebook friends are fans of Snickers Canada, you've probably seen this in your feed:

It's a Facebook App that invites you to look into a camera, and have your face turned into a "hungry" version of yourself:

Do we see anything problematic here? There's hunger on our streets. In the north. In the third world. In catastrophe-ravaged places like the Philippines.

When Snickers did the "You're not you when you're hungry" TV ads, they were funny because of the celebrities and the slice-of-life context.

This campaign, however, takes you down into a dank, prison-like environment where you are faced with a "machine" that will make you into a starving wretch:

And it didn't even work!

No, this is not consciousness-raising of world hunger. It is really insensitive candy marketing.

Despite this:

At Mars we take our responsibility for marketing our brands appropriately very seriously. 

Yeah, right.

Oxfam exposes unethical chocolate in a rather messy manner

Jezebel shared this Oxfam video that parodies the way chocolate is marketed to women as sex. The reveal is kind of... shitty:



The message is there, that unethical chocolate is an urgent women's issue. But the video leaves something to be desired in concept and execution. Nonetheless, the cause is important and you can get all the sad details in their media release.

Chocolate as sex: Not just for women anymore

Jezebel recently ran this picture, an image from the back of this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, with the headline "The Back Cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Tells You to Fuck a Piece of Chocolate."

The M&M custom ads for SI's annual spankbank bait is actually a tradition that goes back a few years.

Here's one from 2011:

Via Social Media Trend

Here's 2009:

Via Sociological Images

In fact, the "sexy green M&M" has been part of Mars Inc.'s strategy for several years:

It's intended as a parody. This year's candy pinup is a send-up on the Antarctic cover shot for which Kate Upton almost literally froze her ass off.

At this point, though, I'm not sure the humour is even there anymore. It's the other side of the food-as-sex trope that crosses the streams of primal urges in increasingly weird ways.

Snickers ads feed off American political cynicism

What do you get when you ask a bunch of cynical advertising people to cynically advertise junk food during an extremely cynical American election? This.

The "Don't vote hungry" campaign, by BBDO New York, is an extension of the "You're Not You When You're Hungry" campaign, but while the mothership is slapstick, this one is almost too close to reality for a laugh. Art direction's nice, though.

According to The Drum, Snickers is giving out chocolate bars in key swing state Iowa, along with bumper stickers.

Cadbury introduces chocolates just for women (and German men)

Via The Guardian

Cadbury recently announced, in the UK, that they will be launching their first new chocolate bar of the 21st Century. But the marketing strategy is very old-fashioned. This chocolate bar is aimed specifically at women.

So, what makes a chocolate bar feminine? (And why didn't they call it "Crispella"?

The Daily Mail quotes a Cadbury spokesman:

"The mix of wafer and chocolate is a lighter way to eat chocolate and we know from experience that women are attracted to this particular format. 

It will also appeal to women because it is in three separate portions so they can consume a little at a time rather than in one go."

In other words, "we know that women love chocolate, but are afraid to be perceived as fat. So we'll use those body anxieties to sell them portion-controlled candy snacking."

It's hardly progressive. It's actually kind of insulting. But it is part of an emerging trend of sex-specific product marketing that reinforces stereotypes. Remember "Be." wine? Or Dr. Pepper 10? We actually seem to be getting more gender-typed in this millenium. That is, if we buy those products.

The marketing isn't the only thing backwards about the new Cadbury offering. They couldn't even come up with an new brand.

"Crispello" has been marketed before, but in mainland Europe. (By another Kraft brand, Milka.) And in this ad, it's aimed at men:



It also has a different filling. In the UK, it's chocolate. In Germany, custard.

If you live within its range, soon you won't be able to escape the gendered marketing blitz. Starting October 8, the sweets will be launched with a £7m marketing campaign in "women’s press", outdoor advertising and point of sale (POS), with the tagline "A little treat for you"

Aren't you lucky, toots?

An Open Letter to Hawkins Cheezies

Dear Mr. Hawkins

Today is Halloween, and I am giving out nothing but Cheezies.

This is not due to any obsession with your product. It is the best of its category, sure, but there are other reasons to give it out.

First of all, I am from Kingston. You are from Belleville. I now live in Ottawa. And your product gives me the opportunity to contribute to a regional family-owned business. My family and I buy local food as much as possible — Ontario wines, and local cheese, meat and produce. So the opportunity to make even our rare junk food purchases (sorry) locavorous is one we appreciate.

Second, I'm having more and more of a problem with chocolate these days. A child labour problem. So much of the cheap chocolate that will be given out tonight to excited children was illegally harvested by children their own age in Ghana and Ivory Coast. These kids are exposed to dangerous working conditions, climbing trees with machetes to harvest pods, and few of them go to school. Many are trafficked from neighbouring countries as slave labour. It's really sad.

That's why my wife and I have tried to move towards Fairtrade chocolate from another regional company, Camino. But that stuff is a little expensive for Halloween giveaways.

Your product, on the other hand, is very affordable. I just wish it had not been so hard to find. But I know how the companies of "Big Chips" dominate shelf space with money and pressure. My sharp-eyed son managed to find two 24-packs of 28g bags of Cheezies stuffed into a bottom shelf at the Halloween display in an Ottawa Wal-Mart. (We had to buy the rest in much more expensive 8-count bags from Metro.)

Part of my Hawkins horde.

I was surprised how few Hawkins Cheezies I could find in local retail. Everyone seems to agree that yours are the best. Humpty Dumpty's cheese things and Cheetos both have long and scary ingredients lists, compared to yours — including MSG. People like your crunch better, too, and the fact that the orange stuff is not quite so stainingly neon.

I would have expected that Halloween was the perfect time to mount a strong regional campaign, touting your provenance and your goodness, to encourage parents around Ontario to act as brand ambassadors to hand out Cheezies samples at their doors. But I saw nothing.

You have a good product, but I'm afraid that your marketing is a little old fashioned. Why can't I find this beloved Canadian brand on Facebook? Where would I hear your great story, if I had not bothered to Google you? You need help.

And it's not just the "promotional" P of marketing that you need to work on. While the product tastes great, I note that you are a hold-out for still using hydrogenated vegetable oil. My son doesn't eat enough Cheezies to make the small amount of trans fats a health issue, but your competitors have already made the switch to better oils. You need to do that, ASAP. The war on trans fats is not going away.

The other thing you could do is make sure your product fully lives up to its local, wholesome, made-in-Canada heritage. If you're using Canadian corn, you should proudly say so. People like that. And while I don't expect you to go organic, as a family-owned company you could become a very popular champion of smaller, family-owned farms that use non-GMO corn. This would also be a great thing to add to your story. Finally, using real aged cheddar is part of your Canadian charm. Is the cheese made regionally, or provincially? This could also be a great story to tell.

And then there's the peanut thing. Humpty Dumpty got their cheese sticks certified peanut free. I'm sure you could, too.

Your product will never be health food. But it is a "feel-good" food. Wouldn't it be great if you were able to out-maneuver your larger competition in Canada by being the cheese-flavoured snack with more to feel good about?

This is a conversation I'd like to have. So if you're in the neighbourhood tonight, please drop by for some Cheezies.

F'd Ad Fridays: Horrifying Halloween candy

Their barftastic  sweetness isn't just for Easter anymore.

The Drum quotes a Cadbury Brand Manager:

“After a very successful trial in 2010, Cadbury Screme Egg is back, bringing with it some gruesome gooiness to the Halloween season. Consumers will enjoy its unexpectedly green yolk, giving them the opportunity to enjoy the classic taste of a Creme Egg out of the usual Easter season.”

You think this is Halloween candy, Cadbury? No, THIS is Halloween candy:

From Fast Co. (a couple of years back):

"in the confections of Stephen J. Shanabrook, sweet treats turn into gruesome mementos of contemporary life. The candies you see above were cast from the fatal wounds of anonymous cadavers. According to Eat Me Daily, Shanabrook says the truffles skate 'very close to the edge, the forbidden place for artists.'"

If you really want a "screme", imagine dropping one of those in a kid's Halloween bag.

Neo-nationalism... now in chocolate bar form

This fascinating case study from Romania provides insights into the love/hate relationship between Eastern Europe and American globalism.

Basically, a chocolate brand based on the country's identity challenged apathetic youth by faking a stars-and-stripes rebranding — complete with new packaging fake ads:



I'm not sure how authentic its claims of grassroots protest are, but the approach is interesting and the executions are funny. (Although stirring up that kind of angry patriotism always makes me a little uncomfortable.)