food

Stork Gets New Look In Vlasic's Biggest Campaign

Vlasic

Mountain Lakes, N.J.-based Pinnacle Foods Group, which owns the Vlasic brand, says its new multimillion-dollar campaign is "by far the biggest yet, with a 20% spending increase up from the last campaign."

The campaign features a redesigned stork, considerably slimmer and now three-dimensional. He was created by AOR Merkley + Partners with animation company, Passion Pictures. The stork will "now live in the environment around him, interacting with people in a more relative way and carrying a slightly younger attitude," according to the company. "While his look has been updated, the Stork's trademark Groucho Marx personality for which he is recognized is still very apparent."

The introduction of the stork as the 68-year-old Vlasic's advertising character came about in the late 1960s when the brand's first TV campaign launched. Because folklore at the time held that pregnant women craved pickles, Vlasic marketed itself as "the pickle pregnant women crave." The new creative focuses on new ways to think about, and ultimately consume, pickles, said Alex Gellert, CEO/Partner, Merkley + Partners.

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Included in the campaign is a new tagline, "Taste what a Vlasic can do." Elements include TV, print and various digital components including a microsite, pre-roll advertising, Web banner ads and social media. The digital and TV elements of the new creative launched May 24 and print insertions will debut in July magazine issues. The made-over stork is featured on new Facebook and Twitter pages.

The 15-second and 10-second TV spots are running on national cable and in national syndication. One national print ad will run first in July-August and November-December publications. July launch publications include Parents, Cooking Light and Food Network magazine.

"We continually invest in our brands to keep them relevant and contemporary -- that's what this campaign is about," Eric Hintz, VP of marketing, Vlasic Pickles, tells Marketing Daily.

Visitors to the microsite Tastewhatavlasiccando.com will be able to choose from different occasions for which the stork will provide ideas, tips and usages. The stork welcomes each visitor by asking them to select an occasion to "see what a pickle can do to make your life practically perfect." A contest -- "What Does a Vlasic Do for You?" -- will allow Vlasic to take a direct pulse on how people across America are consuming pickles in different ways.

Vlasic also is aligning with celebrity Chef Kevin Roberts to ensure that recipes are created on an ongoing basis to offer consumers meal ideas for various occasions. The company will continue its third year of cross-country "Crunch-Offs" where Vlasic gives consumers a chance to interact with the stork in person, while distributing recipe booklets and sample products.

2 comments about "Stork Gets New Look In Vlasic's Biggest Campaign".
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  1. David Thurman from Aussie Rescue of Illinois, June 2, 2010 at 10:27 a.m.

    Any chance MediaPost can clean up this spammer?

  2. Sergei Kogut from MediaPost, June 2, 2010 at 3:48 p.m.

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