Campaigning in the aisles
Published Friday August 29th, 2008
McCain Foods jumps on the U.S. election bandwagon with some creative advertising
McCain Foods Ltd. is launching a slick, election-style advertising campaign in order to take advantage of the American presidential election and boost its grocery aisle sales.
The campaign, which launches Friday with a print advertisement in USA Today, cashes in on the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent and awareness created by Arizona Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican candidate, as he runs for president.
The print ads will be tied in with a politically-themed Web site – McCainPotatoes.com – that will feature video clips of a gruff, mumbling "spokespotato" in a suit and horn-rimmed eyeglasses.
Mad TV star and professional impersonator Frank Caliendo will play John McCain in a series of video clips on the site. He will also do a national media tour.
Caliendo is well-known for his impressions of current U.S. President George W. Bush and former NFL coach John Madden.
Mike Grossman, managing partner of SCC/Grossman, a Chicago-based public relations firm, is handling the public relation component for the advertising campaign.
The advertising campaign was developed by Grossman's parent company, Schafer Condon Carter for McCain Foods.
Grossman said the idea for the campaign stemmed from a meeting with Frank Finn, senior vice-president for commercial operations for McCain Foods USA.
"He challenged us in early spring to come up with a big idea that would generate rapid awareness and interest among U.S. mothers about McCain french fries and frozen potato products," he said.
"It just happened to be coincidental with the end of the Republic presidential selection process, the end of the primary."
Grossman said the McCain potato campaign offered the opportunity to meet those goals, particularly given the significant name recognition that Senator McCain has built-up as a result of the 2008 presidential election and the amount of advertising spending he has done and will continue to do to support his bid for the White House.
"It was serendipity," said Grossman.
Capturing public attention, particularly during the same period as events such as the summer Olympics and a presidential election, can be tricky, he said.
"Our brand positioning is designed to surprise and delight today's active mom," said Grossman.
"She's not home watching television. She's juggling lots of things, probably a job, certainly community interests and at the same time she feels like she needs to do something special at the dinner table to surprise and delight her kids."
The McCain potato campaign is the result of the willingness by McCain Foods to take a little bit of a risk, Grossman added.
"It's not like we're making fun of the candidate or the presidential process. We're poking fun at the company, getting some light humour about us, at the same time we're taking advantage of U.S.-style presidential politicking."
Among the clever phrases developed by McCain Foods for the advertisements: "McCain goes to war over oil" or "McCain brings ‘smiles' to millions."
The first slogan is used to draw attention to the elimination of trans fats from McCain fries while the second is a reference to McCain's round smiley-face french fries.
McCain Foods, the world's largest producer of french fries and potato products, is the number two frozen potato product seller in the U.S. and is hoping to lure customers away from Heinz's Ore-Ida, the U.S. leader.
The Florenceville-based company is distinguishing its products in blue bags, while Heinz's are in red.
The McCain Foods campaign will run right up to the November presidential election.
"This (campaign) is coincidental with McCain offering a lot of new, attractive options in the frozen potato market like sweet potato fries, french fries that are shaped in a smiley face and new products to come, that give us the opportunity to reinforce that position of surprising and delighting mom and her family."
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