Wonderful Pistachio is well known for its bright green, quirky commercials with an equally quirky spokesperson. The commercials have used celebrities, athletes, and typical mascot fare, yet recently (and increasingly) figures from the Internet to promote the fun of cracking open nutritious pistachios.
It may be considered a bold move by Wonderful Pistachio, to use potentially obscure references in order to convey this message and attract a broad audience. However, Wonderful Pistachio notably uses figures that have gained fame on YouTube, one of the most used and popular sites in the world, assuring widespread recognition of the "celebrity." Examples include the Honey Badger and Keyboard Cat.
Using figures from the Internet generates appeal to young adults and children, who frequently access the Internet, especially YouTube. It also promotes a fun and quirky personality to associate with the product, which resonates well with such a demographic. And because anything on the Internet is there forever, these Wonderful Pistachio commercials may be effective for many years to come. Therefore, more companies and brands may want to consider using "memes" (an Internet fad) to promote their products; it might never lose its appeal.
A Wonderful Pistachio commercial with Keyboard Cat:
I think using internet characters as celebrities is a pretty good idea. It keeps the advertising relevant. If you think about it, some of the videos have had millions of views so I'd a say a large proportion of the audience would have seen them. If not, I'm sure they could quickly find someone who understands the reference.
ReplyDeleteI find this commercial to be annoying only because of the tone of the music. But I also find it effective, because hours after I hear the commercial I can still hear the music playing in the back of my head. Great advertsing techniques.
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