Spuds McCain
ADVERTISING | Canadian potato company hopes to grow brand in U.S. by riding name of candidate
Talk about having the right name at the right time. Given that a certain gentleman named John McCain is about to become the Republican nominee for president, McCain Foods, a Canadian-based producer of frozen french fries and other potato products, has decided the time is right to raise its profile in the United States. McCain is a major brand in the U.S. frozen potato market -- even though Ore-Ida might be the more familiar name.
As first tipped in this column several weeks ago, McCain Foods has tapped Schafer Condon Carter/Chicago to help it capitalize on the McCain name and the 2008 presidential campaign. And SCC has done just that. The first phase of the campaign begins Friday with a full-page print ad in USA Today that carries the blaring headline "Why McCain Should Be In the White House."
After that headline gets everyone's attention, the ad -- of necessity -- goes on to cleverly avoid suggesting the company is actually endorsing McCain the candidate. Instead the ad copy turns to talking about the virtues of McCain's potato products, while encouraging consumers to stand up against ordinary french fries and vote for change.
As McCain Foods is making its case in the pages of USA Today, the comedian and impersonator Frank Caliendo will be hitting the streets of Phoenix, Ariz., (which John McCain represents in the Senate) doing his McCain impersonation and presumably throwing in a few McCain Foods remarks in the process.
A lot of Caliendo's street performance will be taped and then posted on YouTube and other heavily trafficked Web sites to try to kick-start a viral buzz about the frozen potato giant. That's not always easy to do. But if Caliendo is any good at what he's been hired to do, it could go a long way toward helping make McCain Foods more of a household name. And should John McCain triumph in November, who knows? McCain potatoes might wind up a major player in the White House kitchens.