• by Larissa Faw , July 1, 2014

George Foreman grills are once again in the spotlight. Parent company Spectrum Holdings is launching "Meet My Grillfriend," the brand's first TV ad in three years to support six new models of grills. 

"We're thrilled to be back on TV as we introduce a comprehensive multipurpose advertising plan with new and improved George Foreman grills that provides consumers with a fast, easy, and convenient way to prepare healthy meals at home," said Dann Provolo, division vice president of marketing of Spectrum Brands.

"The George Foreman brand was looking for a way to economically leverage advertising touch points and entice people to purchase a new grill, or upgrade their current George Foreman grill models based on our exciting innovations."

Developed with The Impact Group, part of NBC Universal, the 30-second commercial focuses on the pitfalls of a text-driven culture. The spot shows a busy dad preparing dinner for his family and sending a quick text to his wife, writing about making dinner with "my grillfriend," which is autocorrected to "girlfriend."

However, instead of finding his "girlfriend" at her home, she sees a meal that her husband prepared for the family with a George Foreman grill. The ad also mentions Target and Walmart, two key retailers that sell these grills. Walmart accounted for 18% of Spectrum Holdings total sales in 2013.

The spot airs on NBC stations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Minneapolis.

This multiplatform campaign includes mobile advertising and social media components. The effort's #Grillfriend hashtag connects all of the social media activity across Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

The www.georgeforemancooking.com Web site also features tips and recipes.