Brands are trying to one-up the Art Basel banana

Last week, social media lost its mind when Maurizio Cattelan’s “masterpiece” of a banana taped to a wall sold for $120,000, and another artist ate it in the name of performance art. While some viewed it as a big joke, marketers saw engagement as brands from Popeyes to the Mets capitalized on the buzz by producing their own “works of art.” As far as producing social content, this one is pretty simple. All brands need is their product, some duct tape and a wall…too bad there isn’t a Peloton one yet. Below, here are ways brands, unwilling to play second banana to Cattelan, are jumping in on the meme: Popeyes Ad Age ranked the fast-feeder as the second top marketer of 2019 for its hype around its chicken sandwich. It’s latest promotion for the sandwich is its own take on the masterpiece. Popeyes is selling a chicken sandwich taped to a canvas at the San Paul Gallery at Art Basel. Like the original artist, Popeyes thinks it can get away with charging an exorbitant price. In this case, even more than the original viral piece. Don’t eat the art. Even though it’s delicious. Go see our masterpiece “The Sandwich” at @Sanpaulgallery for #ArtBasel.Toasted brioche bun, two pickles, fried chicken, mayo, duct tape on canvas. $120,003.99 🤩 🎨 pic.twitter.com/xzpc7Jttsk— Popeyes Chicken (@PopeyesChicken) December 7, 2019 Burger King In a stunt from Buzzman, Burger King duct-taped a French fry to the wall, but is only selling it for one Euro. Ad Age Creativity Editor wrote about the stunt that mocks the Art Basel piece. Perrier The beverage brand juxtaposes its "priceless" drink to the 120,000 banana. View this post on Instagram Would you rather a $120,000 banana 🍌 or a priceless PERRIER®? #PERRIER #Banana #ArtWork A post shared by Perrier 🌍 (@perrier) on Dec 10, 2019 at 1:52am PST The Mets The baseball team has reporters gather around a taped baseball in complete awe. View this post on Instagram ⚾️ > 🍌 Now THIS is art. A post shared by New York Mets (@mets) on Dec 9, 2019 at 10:12am PST Carrefour In France, the grocery chain is running Instagram ads for its fruit tapped to a wall and going for a normal price. Sweetgreen The salad chain promoted its new location in Miami with a kale leaf taped to a wall. View this post on Instagram Miami, we're coming. A post shared by sweetgreen (@sweetgreen) on Dec 9, 2019 at 2:45pm PST McDonald's For its Puerto Rico market, McDonald's worked with TBWA to create a series of print advertisements with its take on the trend. The food chain decided to show the absence of food, as though someone had already grabbed the "art." Absolut Responded to Popeyes on Twitter with this... Goes well with chicken. #AbsolutElyx pic.twitter.com/oNPAMb2ESb— Absolut Elyx Vodka (@absolutelyx) December 8, 2019 Bobbi Brown Showed off its Crushed Lip Color and is selling it for the regular price of the lipstick: $29. View this post on Instagram Yours for just $29. 🍌 Crushed Lip Color turns your lips into a work of art. Blot or swipe on for your desired look. PC: @violetgrey #bobbibrown #crushedlipcolor #artbasel2019 #artbasel #ducttapebanana #banana #lipstick A post shared by Bobbi Brown Cosmetics (@bobbibrown) on Dec 9, 2019 at 3:36pm PST Native The deodorant brand mocks the piece with with its own banana deodorant. View this post on Instagram Art is in the eye of the beholder, but this sh*t is bananas 🍌 A post shared by NATIVE (@native) on Dec 9, 2019 at 12:56pm PST Tampa Police Even Tampa's finest had their fun creating 'Sgt.Donut.' And where is the Duck Tape in all this? Here’s a perfect opportunity for its duct tape brand: a picture of the product with the caption “banana not included.”

Brands are trying to one-up the Art Basel banana

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