You are now entering Ad Space, a realm of commercials, brought before us so we might examine how they work, and discuss why we both love and hate them so. So it is written …
The Product:
Chicken of the Sea canned tuna
The Promotion:
The Pitch:
Let this siren of the sea lure you in with that luscious voice.
There’s such a thing as trying too hard, Chicken of the Sea.
Look, I get it, you want to target the upscale market. They’ve got the most money to spend, and people further down the socio-economic ladder will aspire to be like them and buy what (they think) their betters buy. It’s been a winning strategy for many other products. All that’s true enough.
But you’re selling canned meat, Chicken of the Sea. On grocery store shelves, you’re sitting right next to cans of SPAM and tins of anchovies. Billing yourself as a classy, high-end dining option … it’s just not gonna work.
You can put your tuna on a literal silver platter, with a glass of wine and a candle for ambience. You can cast a mermaid with the most sensually sophisticated voice as your spokesperson. You can throw around words like “à la King” and “prime filet” … but it won’t matter. Once you show the tuna meat retaining the shape of the can, all illusions of elegance are shattered.
I’m not telling you to know your place, Chicken of the Sea … except that’s exactly what I’m telling you. Unless fresh tuna is simply not available (was that harder to get back in the 60’s? let me know in the comments down below) your upwardly mobile aspirations aren’t fooling anyone.
Be proud to be what you are: the cheapest and most convenient source of seafood that’s unlikely to give you food poisoning. Now that’s a winning slogan!