Welcome to the latest edition of Marketer's Brief, a quick
take on marketing news, moves and trends from Ad Age's reporters
and editors. Send tips/suggestions to [email protected]
In the latest how-did-they-not-catch-this marketing blunder,
Kellogg is on the defensive for an ill-conceived cereal box design
that some observers are calling racist. The Corn Pops mistake leads
today's Brief, which also has news on Coke's state-themed cola play
and a new coffee marketed for people and their dogs. Bark, or
barf?
How did this happen?
Games and drawings on the backs of cereal boxes are meant to be a
fun diversion. But when novelist Saladin Ahmed saw a box of Corn
Pops, the darker coloring of a Corn Pop character stood out. The
box depicts a mall scene filled with cartoonish Corn Pop
characters, with instructions for activities such as spotting
differences between certain ones.
KelloggsUS cereal boxÂ
Credit:
via Saladin Ahmed/Twitter
The thing is, all the Corn Pop characters appear to have the
same yellow-ish hue except for a darker one who is pushing a
machine to clean or buff the floor. Ahmed took the marketer to task
on Twitter.
hey @KelloggsUS
why is literally the only brown corn pop on the whole cereal box
the janitor? this is teaching kids racism. pic.twitter.com/Nh7M7IFawW
Kellogg responded via
its @KelloggsUS twitter handle on Tuesday, saying "Kellogg is
committed to diversity & inclusion. We did not intend to offend
– we apologize. The artwork is updated & will be in
stores soon." (It also issued a statement with a similar message.)
Ahmed, who is currently writing the Black Bolt series for Marvel
Comics, responded that he "genuinely" appreciated the rapid
response. Later, Ahmed summed up the issue (and perhaps the entire
year in marketing and politics) in another tweet:
today I used the computer in my pocket to
get a cereal company to make their boxes less racist what even is
the 21st century
Of course, it begs the question how the image got onto the boxes
in the first place. Corn Pops is clearly not the only brand to be
put on the defensive against charges that its marketing is racially
tone-deaf.
Dove, anyone? And who could forget
Pepsi and Kendall Jenner. Consumer packaged-good marketers are
known for research rigor, but clearly something is amiss these
days.
Coca-Cola California Raspberry
Have a Coke, and Georgia peach?
As it pursues the burgeoning craft and specialty soda segment,
PepsiCo has ventured beyond its flagship Pepsi-Cola brand name with
offerings such as Stubborn Soda and Caleb's Kola. But Coca-Cola Co.
appears to be taking a different approach in the segment, as
evidenced by two new sodas that stick with the Coke trademark.
Launching in March are Coca-Cola Georgia Peach and Coca-Cola
California Raspberry. The state-branded, fruit-flavored sodas are
made with cane sugar and packaged in 12-ounce glass bottles. This
type of attempted localization of a global brand is reminiscent
Budweiser's recent move to
slap state names on bottles of Bud.
Sears bottoms out on Whirlpool
And another one bites the dust. After a century, Sears and
Whirlpool are calling it quits. The struggling retailer will no
longer sell Whirlpool products, including those under brands such
as KitchenAid and Maytag. Earlier this year, Sears peddled its
Craftsman tools line to Stanley Black & Decker, ending decades
of exclusivity. Lowe's is now also carrying the Craftsman line.
Meanwhile, Sears is selling its Kenmore collection via Amazon and
has put VR assistant Alexa in Kenmore appliances in another example
of joining them when you can't beat them.
The horror! Even plumbing fixtures get spooky
ads
Marketers seemingly can't get enough horror ads of late, like those
Mars "Bite Size Horror" mini-films. Why should plumbing be
different? Clog preventer Drain Strain now has a nearly 7-minute
horror infomercial. Spoiler alert: The undead have the same
drain-clog issues as everyone else, which also can be solved in
under a minute. Drain Strain already has gotten support thanks to
"Shark Tank," and is using the horror video to fuel an Indiegogo
push.
A cure for health insurance headaches?
For any consumers who have ever had difficulty navigating the
choppy waters of health insurance (so, everyone), ZocDoc, the
online doctor finding service, now has an Insurance Checker, which
allows patients to find insurance plans and get plan details before
they book. The checker uses artificial intelligence in the Zocdoc
app to match details on physical insurance cards with plan
information when patients scan a card image to their smartphone.
Zocdoc is also offering a more universal insurance card template
for insurers that has all the information for patients made more
easily decipherable, the company said. The company collaborated
with agency Office of Baby on a video to explain the new
offerings.
Rooffee
Would You Buy This?
Back when humorless retail buyers and brand managers at giant
consumer-goods behemoths controlled what made it to market,
something like this might never have happened. Thanks to
Kickstarter, we now have the first coffee in the world suitable for
dogs and their owners: Rooffee. It's not caffeinated, but rather a
natural source of nutrients extracted from Nordic wild roots.
Learn more here.
Number of the Week
18.5 percent: The growth in craft spirits sales last year to nearly
6 million cases, according to new data from the American Craft
Spirits Association, which notes that crafts have reached 3.8
percent in dollar market share.
Tweet of Week
*Calls Customer Service*
Hi. I used the Amazon Key service and now my Xbox is missing. Also,
they let my cat out. I'd like to cancel.
Moves
After six months without a full-time president of its North America
business, Mondelēz International has tapped an outsider for
the role. Glen Walter will join the snack maker next month as
executive VP and president, North America, after most recently
serving as CEO of Coca-Cola Industries China since 2014. His prior
work also included serving as president and chief operating officer
of the soft-drink maker's North America business. Tim Cofer had
been leading the North American business on an interim basis since
April, when Mondelez announced Roberto Marques was leaving the
company. Cofer will now return to his chief growth officer role
full time. And, as previously announced, Dirk Van de Put joins next
month as CEO.
Contributing: E.J. Schultz, Jack Neff, Adrianne Pasquarelli,
Jessica Wohl
