Chick-Fil-A by no means wants you to eat more kale

That's Vermont artist Bo Muller-Moore, who sells his curious "Eat More Kale" shirts at eatmorekale.com. There, he says "I'm also about eating locally, supporting local farmers, bakers, famers markets, farm stands, CSA's, community gardens and restaurants, sustainable lifestyles, social commentary and community. Most importantly, I'm about printin' Vermont's one-at-a-time orginial design t-shirts. Have fun and remember: eat more kale!!!"

The man loves kale.

But Chick-Fil-A think it's a ripoff of their ads:

They have sent him a cease and desist letter, and are apparently prepared to sue. They even want him to hand over his internet domain. But Muller-Moore has lawyered up and declares, "Our plan is to not back down. This feels like David versus Goliath. I know what it's like to protect what's yours in business."

As does the big chicken chain, which will probably not give up either unless it starts to hurt their PR. Let's hope it does.

Via The Consumerist and Yahoo! Finance

Marketing Big Meat

Mother Jones recently ran an interesting exclusive: branding and packaging pages from a draft marketing plan fror Sara Lee about how they could reposition Hillshire Farm deli meats as a more sustainable and healthy option.

The scanned document looks like it was nicked from a recycling bin, but it's worth reading just for gems like this:

Give it up for pepper!

And this:

Good job, bees!

This off-the-cuff, conversational style is supposed to represent a new era of transparency and sustainability  in megameat.

Well, aspiring to transparency and sustainability anyway. And buying up small farms so that their newly-pluralized brand name actually means something.

It's good, though, that consumer pressure is forcing big processors into at least wanting to be seen as wholesome and small.

They also want to break into the food snob market by developing two new premium brands, "Smith & Smith" and "Flat Iron Ranch".

"Size of the prize"? I'm amazed that agency people can present that to a client with a straight face. But they also committed the following atrocities:

I am so ashamed of my industry right now.

Does this look into the marketing minds behind Big Meat surprise you? Disappoint you? Or just confirm what you already suspected.

This kind of rebranding, dressing factory-processed meat in a neighbourhood butcher's apron, is happening throughout the packaged meat sector.

But the big question is, how much marketing spin are you prepared to swallow?

And note to self: shred all draft marketing plans.

F'd Ad Fridays: Organic dairy boy band is no joke

And that, in itself, is ridiculous. Despite transplanting all the well-worn 'N Sync et cetera audio and video clichés to a farm setting, this campaign for Yeo Valley organic dairy never actually manages to be funny. Even the moo and the "Got Milk?" moustache shot seem genuine and earnest.



Meanwhile, AdFreak notes that this mad-up group, "Churned", will appear on Britain's The X Factor talent show and will have this song available on iTunes.

Is this some kind of super-subtle new British humour I'm not aware of?

Cheech & Chong's Next Next Movie

Great to see them working together again. There's a nice surprise at the end of the... umm... trailer.



Sweet.

Via Illegal Advertising

F'd Ad Fridays: Selling drugs on campus

What a very, very bad idea:

Red Bull's back-to-school campaign promotes itself with this line:

In my parents' day, many students popped "diet pills" to improve academic performance. Everyone knows they drink lots of coffee and Coke. But is it really ethical to promote your stimulant-laden drink (not to mention all that sugar) to students as a way to have more fun in school?

Using stimulants to pull all-nighters is a bad idea. Mixing Red Bull with vodka to party all night is also a bad idea. Yes, students commonly do both of these things. But using their stupid susceptibility to high-risk behaviours as a way to market an energy drink is really, really evil.

F'd Ad Fridays: "We're out of milk!"

And here I thought lactose tolerance was rare in Japan. Perhaps it's just the dairy ads that cause indigestion...

Via wtfjapanseriously.com

How is flavoured instant coffee just like adultery?

They're both a really bad idea.

These Publicis Conseil ads for Nescafé's "Dolce Gusto" line of flavoured hot beverages seem a little subtle and sophisticated for people who don't like the taste of coffee. But perhaps it's a French thing.

Via Ads of The World