When I first saw the title of this Ad Age article “What Marketers Can Learn from the Great Wiener War”, I wasn’t sure what kind of drama to expect. Was this yet another Anthony Wiener article (remember him)? Or was it something else?
After reading about the court battle between Sara Lee (Ball Park Franks) and Kraft (Oscar Meyer Wieners), it got me thinking about what’s going on with marketing today. In the news yesterday, there was lots of talk about Abercrombie and Fitch and the fact they have asked “The Situation” from that horrendous reality show from NJ to stop wearing their A&F branded clothing. They will even pay him to stop wearing the clothing, according to the reports.
Is this what marketing has come to? Now we hear that this is an actual plan by the company and the TV show to get and keep their names in the news. Brilliant…I guess…but man, I just am not a fan of this kind of shenanigans. I would rather see a brand be able to stand by itself without “trickery”.
Now, back to the Great Wiener War…
Each company is claiming false advertising against the other. Are more advertisers going after each other these days? In this particular case, both companies are choosing a “noisy” trial in court than settling quietly.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I am very tired of all the noise. Most of the noise is silly noise and I want to scream “I can’t take it anymore”. I am at the point that I will go out of my way to stay away from the brands who participate in this noise. And as I said before, I would rather work on my brand and have a strong brand that can stand by itself than participate, as a company, in this kind of stuff.
I will say this—I have never bought clothing from Abercrombie and Fitch and I have never watched that silly reality TV show from NJ. None of this noise is convincing me to do otherwise. As a marketer, I don’t like the idea of the words “PR stunt” being associated with my brand.
How does anyone else feel on all this?
Read the Ad Age Article:
http://adage.com/article/news/marketers-learn-oscar-mayer-ballpark-war/229299/
Please contact Anna Brice at Pinnacle Peak Marketing, Scottsdale AZ about Marketing for Small/Medium Business.
Email: anna@pinnaclepeakmarketing.com
Phone: 480-661-0292
Website: https://pinnaclepeakmarketing.com