Folgers' spoofy ads take the brand in a whole new direction

Folgers Coffee’s new campaign is such a departure for the brand that it begs the question: Is this really from Folgers or is it a spoof? In one spot, a woman thinks she’s about to surprise her husband in the shower and instead opens the curtain on her sudsy father-in-law. In another, a dad gets stuck in the chimney while playing Santa. Each ad includes lyrics sung by a choir dubbed the “Folgers Morning Harmonizers” and seems almost ready to air as a “Saturday Night Live” skit. The ads end with the choir’s take on the long-running jingle, “the best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup.” The work comes from Publicis Groupe's PSOne, a so-called bespoke agency for Folgers’ parent company, J.M. Smucker Co. And yes, this is really from Folgers, the brand that brought viewers to tears for years with its commercial featuring son Peter returning home for Christmas and subsequently gained notoriety for the spot's "controversial" sequel. (GQ just dropped an extended "oral history" of the latter, which it called a "holiday miracle" that sparked everything from parodies to fan fiction thanks to its unintentionally incestuous undertones.) Perhaps that history was inspiration for the brand to take its approach in a completely different direction, in which the "controversy" is decidedly wacky and overt. "Our objective for the creative was to shift our storytelling from traditions of the past to modern relatable mornings," Tina Meyer-Hawkes, VP of marketing on coffee, said in a statement.

Folgers' spoofy ads take the brand in a whole new direction

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