• USA Today, Monday, October 5, 2009 10:46 AM

In the wake of a devastating product recall last spring, the pistachio nut industry is launching a first-ever broadcast campaign -- to the tune of $15 million -- that features sexually risqué executions, Bruce Horovitz reports.

In one, a real-life dominatrix cracks open a shell with a whip. Says the voiceover: "A dominatrix does it on command." Another stars Levi Johnston, the father of Sarah Palin's out-of-wedlock grandchild, standing next to a bodyguard. Says the voice-over: "Now, Levi does it with protection."

"We want to get some sizzle out there," asserts Dominic Engels, vp of global marketing for Paramount Farms, the largest grower, processor and marketer of pistachios in the world. And, like most marketers these days, he's nuts about potential "exponential impact." In other words, he hopes the campaign will go viral.

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