Parody influencer ‘Basic B’ celebrates the simple ingredients in Brown Bag line from Lowes Foods

Brown Bag, the private label brand of regional grocer Lowes Foods, often leads with what it calls the seven no’s—seven unhealthy additives it excludes from its lineup of over 900 products, including artificial flavors, synthetic sweeteners and high-fructose corn syrup. As part of a new social-forward campaign to emphasize the basic nature of Brown Bag’s ingredients to consumers, the Carolinas-based supermarket chain created a character with a personality to match: “Basic B,” a parody of an online influencer who is, like, totally obsessed with the brand and its offerings. The ads are chock full of lifestyle creator tropes and internet slang, all crafted to resonate with one of Lowes Foods’ target demographics—millennial families. (In a 6-second online ad for Brown Bag’s Chicken & Bacon Saccottini, for example, the Basic B claims the pasta dish “hits different. Period. Don’t sleep on it. It’s a mood. I’d die.”) The tagline is: “Sometimes it’s good to be basic.” “With lots of new innovation, Brown Bag has been a key growth driver for Lowes Foods over the past few years,” said Anne Whitfield, the company’s director of brand development, who added that pushing “simple and clean ingredients” is a centerpiece of the house brand’s marketing efforts. “And what better a spokesperson to deliver that message” than the campaign’s Basic B, she said. The work was created by independent New York ad agency Walrus, which has served as Lowes Foods’ agency of record since 2019. “We wanted the work to embody the simple, basic nature of Lowes Foods’ Brown Bag products, and Basic B gave us a platform to get across all the greatness of being basic,” said Paula Beer Levine, managing director at Walrus. Basic B is played by actress Hannah Kloepfer. Launched this month and running throughout 2024, the new campaign is anchored by a series of short social media videos running across TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, in which the Basic B praises a number of Brown Bag products, including its trail mix, orange juice and boxed macaroni and cheese. It’ll also have a presence on connected TV and out-of-home placements around its primary market in North and South Carolina, with additional assets tied to the campaign appearing in-store.

Parody influencer ‘Basic B’ celebrates the simple ingredients in Brown Bag line from Lowes Foods

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