The commercial landscape didn't have any egregious landmines in this week's episode of "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution," but there was enough gray to go around.
There was promotional consideration given to another company that has Green in the title this week. But unlike the Green Giant fiasco, this went much smoother with considerably more credibility.
Green Truck is a mobile truck service that serves healthier food that is local in origin. Oliver mentioned the Green Truck and pointed out that they serve local food, in this case, specifically bison burgers, bison dogs, salads.
Oliver noted that Green Truck serves the "same kind of foods, just better ingredients, less processed, less refined, leaner meats."
This does smack of a commercial in the middle of the show, still something that doesn't look good. But let's examine why this is definitely better than the Green Giant mess.
-- Unlike last week, there was a brief shot of the truck. No lingering on the logo, no uncomfortable repartee by the host.
-- Unlike last week, the introduction of the segment wasn't awkward. The Green Giant promo felt like a triangle peg in a rhombus hole.
-- Unlike last week, Green Truck was marketing a rather distinct product with little attention outside the show.
-- And unlike last week, Green Truck didn't run a ridiculous ad right near the segment in question.
ABC had similar wording about a promotional consideration. The words still distract from the show, but this was done in a more ideal fashion, if we are stuck with this trend of ads within a show.
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The easy winner in the "did you really want to advertise this on the show" moment goes to Slim-Fast at about :10 into the show. In a show about eating better in an effort to lose weight, Slim-Fast offers us a "clinically proven way to lose weight now."
The people who are watching this show who really need help aren't likely the ones who need to lose a few pounds before some big date on their calendar. Yet Slim-Fast wants to offer them hope even if their shake products aren't conductive to their needs to relearn eating habits.
And when a commercial offers a disclaimer that "Losing more than two lbs. per week is not recommended," the tagline of "Who has time to slim slowly?" is creepy, wrong, and a tad unethical.
Bad timing for the commercial, and a bad approach regardless of how much or little weight involved. Talk about a lot of mixed messages.
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There was an unintended commercial for McDonald's as they showed a Golden Arches location right across from Cabell-Huntington Hospital. Given that the Green Truck was positioned right outside the hospital, you have to wonder how often hospital employees, most of them medical professionals, eat at that McDonald's purely out of convenience.
We have seen stories of McD's in hospitals. Sometimes, the promotion of fast food is seen in a bad light, whether it be schools or hospitals.
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Though Ocean Spray's ad promoted blue, there was a lot of gray in the advertising.
Ocean Spray ran an ad at about :43 for its Blueberry Juice Cocktail "from concentrate." The actors were surrounded by blueberries and the word "antioxidants" were thrown around.
There was the label on the package that pointed out that the Blueberry Juice Cocktail had "no high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors or flavors."
So far, so good. But this isn't the whole story.
By definition, "juice cocktail" means sugar and water. Sugar is cheap and water even cheaper (free), but you pay for them to put that into the product. And when they do it, they control the level of sugar. Also, blueberry juice — from those blueberries that you see in the ad — is already sweet. So why do you need sugar?
Lemonade exists because lemon juice and water is not sweet. Blueberry juice cocktail is more of what you don't need.
The visual in the ad is blueberries in a blender; the reality is blueberries (plus other stuff) with sugar and water. If a company actually showed what goes into a blueberry juice cocktail, fewer people would buy it.
Assuming that the juice isn't purely from blueberries, you will likely see apple and/or grape juice in the "blueberry" juice cocktail, juices that are higher in sugar than blueberry.
Juice cocktails and juice drinks are sold as a way to give kids some juice while keeping costs low and making it convenient. Try buying a bottle of pure 100% blueberry juice — yes, this will be more expensive. Mix it with water and make your own juice cocktail. In the long run, you will save money, consume less sugar, and be able to tell yourself what is inside your drink.
Jaime oliver's campaign is true and important, but it's hard to get to the hearts and minds of all audience, especially the more weak societies. I think that going to their neighborhood with a food truck is a real great idea for spreading the word! good luck.
Posted by: truck r | August 23, 2010 at 08:21 AM