Fake Infomercials for Fake Products v Real Brand Extensions
The infomercial is a pretty spoofable concept and seems to be in fashion right now. This summer, ESPN used uber-pitchman Billy Mays (recently deceased), who in essence spoofs himself in this spot:
With the start of football season, the Bud Light Grooler was foisted upon us:
And now, here comes the Subaru Outback, with Outback Detergent:
A brand extension that makes sense
These are all reasonably clever executions, with the last two doubling as not only infomercial spoofs, but also product extension spoofs. There is no Grooler or Outback Detergent, it would be ridiculous for those brands to go off in a direction like that. It would be as crazy as P&G’s Mr. Clean fronting a car wash.
Hmmm, not so crazy actually. In fact, it makes a lot of sense. Mr. Clean has incredible brand awareness and brand equity. I really like this move because not only does it make strategic sense, but it’s a completely uncluttered area. I’m not aware of a national car wash chain, and certainly not one based on an existing brand from another category.
The Subara Outback is a good brand and rather than grabbing an easy laugh, I’d love to see them do something truly innovative. Surely they are some creative Content Marketing opportunities to explore. I’m sure they could find a particularly compelling consumer insight, something like 73% of Outback owners also own a dog, that could have led to an interesting, asymmetrical brand partnership opportunity. Would Outback dog food work? Maybe not, but wouldn’t it be far more interesting to try something like that rather than just make a funny marketing campaign?
Tags: billy mays, bud light, car wash, espn commerical, grooler, mr. clean, subaru, tailgate tested tailgate approved
Rick
Good review of 3 prominent fake brand extensions via infomercials. This goes into territory that you’ve talked about – DINU. Other variations include the classic Kwik E Mart makeover of 7-11 which I think could’ve been even bigger than it was had they extended beyond 12 stores and did it for longer.
All in all I give kudos for Subaru for making me laugh and having the balls for not dwelling on the product shot which is almost mandatory for auto ads.
-David
Dave,
Fair point regarding traditional auto TV spots. Once you realize how many use the obligatory “coming around the curve, leaves swirling around the tires” shot, it pretty much ruins all car ads. This is certainly a change from that.
There is a grooler and all those other products available from Bud Light: http://gizmodo.com/5359818/bud-lights-grooler-is-actually-a-real-product
LMD – Fair point, I suppose I should have said ‘novelty’ products rather than fake ones. Though those products are clearly part of this campaign, and not something Bud Light will be continuing beyond this football season I would guess.
[...] Tested, Tailgate Approved” campaign this season. Pretty clever execution, though I previously called in to question the effectiveness of the [...]
[...] Thursday, November 19, 2009 By Rick I’ve written a lot about advertising trends this year: fake infomercials, product displacement, product placement jokes, brands with authentic (and inauthentic) voices to [...]