I couldn’t believe it either. The article, Chew on This, in the Wall Street Journal blew my mind. Creative advertising at its best, from a company that’s 117 years old and for a product that’s 94 years old.
In the music world, hip-hop artist Chris Brown’s latest pop-single, Forever, has been on the Billboard Top 100 for a couple months, just peaking at number 4 this week. It’s been playing all over the radio, at parties, at clubs, everywhere; whether you’re tuned into today’s music or not, there’s a good chance you’ve heard this song. Anyone who has heard it can tell you that in the chorus is a reference to an old chewing gum slogan, “double your pleasure, double your fun” – Wrigley’s DoubleMint Gum. We all thought it was just a cute, and meaningless, reference in the pop song – and boy were we wrong. Turns out it’s a direct reference to Wrigley’s product. Better yet, Wrigley paid for the whole thing! Back in February, they flew Chris Brown out to record simply an updated jingle for DoubleMint Gum commercials, just announced to be aired this coming month. During the same recording session, they recorded a 4 and a half minute version of the jingle, Chris Brown called it “Forever,” and in April, they released it on to the radio, where it has become a huge hit.
Now that it’s cracked the top 5 on Billboard’s charts, Wrigley is stepping out from behind the curtain (apparently they are set to reveal it Tuesday) to say that the whole song is a commercial…essentially. I actually really like the song, and now every time I hear it, I’m going to think of DoubleMint Gum. Talk about breaking through the advertising clutter! And it doesn’t stop there. The campaign will also include the same kind of song-commercials from two other pop artists, Ne-Yo and Julianne Hough, for Big Red and Juicy Fruit, respectively.
The ad agency Interpublic Group, is responsible for the fresh idea. And it’s not their only one, either. Also announced today was a new campaign for Dr. Pepper, another company founded over one-hundred years ago, where well-known, but fictional, doctors are “prescribing” how to drink the classic soft drink. A recent – and real – study was conducted which showed that people who drank soda slower actually enjoyed the taste more. Whether it’s true or not, we’ll have to just take their word for it, but it’s made for a great (and creative!) ad campaign for another seemingly stagnant product type. Check out the commercial here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enJbXlb4zqo/
It just goes to show that you that no matter what you’re selling, even something as simple as gum and soda, there are awesome, out of the box ideas simmering on the sidelines, waiting to help your brand. What do you think about these ads? Let me know!