Kraft Foods’ Miracle Whip is shifting its “Keep an open mouth” campaign online with a series of deadpan videos from mcgarrybowen that mimic the look and feel of public service ads.
The agency’s Chicago office produced four videos that will bow on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter tomorrow. Each lasts about a minute and combines sparse music with a seemingly earnest appeal. This time, however, the “cause” is ending “bias” against a maligned sandwich spread—particularly among those who’ve never tasted it.
One video, which resembles a 1990 Bill Cosby pitch for teachers, features comedian Michael Ian Black seated on a folding chair and spouting statistics related to the “unfair judgment against a simple sandwich spread.” All the while, he turns his body awkwardly to conform to a circular camera shot.
Other videos star actor Jeffrey Tambor of The Larry Sanders Show (“Hey now!”) and singer Wynonna Judd. The Tambor video, much like Jeff Bridges’ current plea to end child hunger, includes a montage of people holding handmade signs (“Can’t we all just get a sandwich?”). And Judd, in her video, caresses a bottle of the sandwich spread like Sara McLachlan embraces dogs in PSAs to end animal cruelty.
Each video directs viewers to the brand’s Facebook page, which they can sign a pledge to halt the unfair treatment of the condiment.
The celebrities were cast to match the tone of Miracle Whip’s broader campaign, which Kraft’s Scott Glenn described as “bold, unapologetic, a little quirky and irreverent.”
“We wanted to play it as straight as possible with kind of a wink,” added Glenn, a senior associate brand manager.
The satiric approach comes four months after Miracle Whip bowed TV ads that likened Miracle Whip haters to an angry mob. Both the traditional and online efforts are designed to drive consumers to try the spread in hopes that, like Mikey in the old Life cereal ad, they’ll like it.
The new videos were directed by Hungryman’s Brian Billow. Beyond Facebook and YouTube, they’ll also appear on the Web sites of media outlets like Alloy, Hulu and AOL. The media site run will begin June 14 and continue through July, a Kraft representative said.