Wheat Thins spreads bit of Twitter to spice up cracker
Lewis Lazare Media & Marketing Columnistllazare@suntimes.com March 13, 2011 10:42PM
Updated: July 1, 2011 12:16AM
We’ve been talking a lot lately about the hip new attitude in the marketing department at packaged goods behemoth Kraft Foods. And the more we talk, more fresh examples of that new attitude keep arriving on our desk.
Take a new TV spot for Wheat Thins, set to break today. The Escape Pod/Chicago, which also crafted the fine online videos for a new Philly cooking cream that we discussed last week, had the bright idea to give Wheat Thins, a cracker that’s been around for a while, a smart, up-to-the-minute vibe via advertising that connects the brand to one of the newer modes of communication hugely popular with a younger demo.
Yes, we’re talking about Twitter.
The Escape Pod created a Crunch Team who travel around in their yellow van tracking tweets from fans of Wheat Thins. In the new spot the team zeroes on a tweet from a fan named Denise that says “Wheat Thins Sundried Tomato & Basil. Oh how I have missed you.”
The sentiment touches the tough Crunch Team crew, who decide to track down Denise and surprise her with a gift.
They find the giggly young woman in a restaurant, where they give her a token of the moment — a heart-shaped pendant that opens to reveal a picture of Denise and Wheat Thins. As the ringleader of the Crunch Team puts the pendant around Denise’s neck, he tells her she can now always hold Wheat Thins close to her heart. Awww.
Back in the van, the Crunch Team leader, who is a wonderfully magnetic performer, asks the rest of his crew if they felt the impact of the moment with Denise as much as he did. “Electric, Electric,” he crows, with just the barest whiff of sarcasm in his voice.
The whole meeting up with Denise, of course, feels more than a little staged, but even so, it makes for fun viewing and leaves one with the distinct impression Wheat Thins is indeed a brand for our very modern times.
Lew’s view: B
