• by Larissa Faw , May 14, 2019

Timed to coincide with the upcoming summer grilling season, two companies are raising awareness for their products that provide an alternative to  better-known traditional mayo and ketchup staples. 

Sir Kensington is introducing the condiment brand's first campaign to suggest consumers should seek out its higher-quality and tasty condiment options. 

The "Abandon All Bland" creative, developed with San Francisco-based creative agency Gold Front, features a narrator comparing the processed stuff people have used for years with bright images of Sir Kensington alternatives and fantastical pictures like striking tigers and voluptuous tomatoes. 

Similar creative flourishes, including anthropomorphic ketchup bottles and tidal waves of mayonnaise, seen in a :60-second video, appear across tram cars and rotundas in OOH throughout San Francisco, selected as being an "upweight" market. The brand previously introduced several NYC subway takeovers a few months ago. 

This awareness push follows Sir Kensington's evolution from a small start-up launched by two college students in 2010 to its 2017 Unilever acquisition for $140 million. The company is now the lead brand of condiments in Whole Foods.  

Separately, Duke’s Mayonnaise is promoting the quality of its products to break through the grocery store condiment clutter. 

The creative, developed with Elevation, features  Southern chefs like Katie Coss, executive chef of Husk in Nashville, and Mason Hereford, chef and owner of Turkey and the Wolf sandwich shop in New Orleans, as they prepare their signature recipes using Duke's.

“I feel like I can always tell when I go out to a buddy’s house if they’re not using Duke’s,” Hereford tells Coss as she mixes ingredients. “I’d get new friends,” she quips.

These personalities were selected for their authentic love of Duke's, says Erin Hatcher, director of marketing of retail brands at The C.F. Sauer Company, the parent company of Duke’s.  Hereford caught the company’s attention, for instance, when execs heard about his unique tattoo featuring Winnie the Pooh that replaced the traditional honey pot with a Duke’s jar. 

In addition to :15-second spots running nationally, there are :30-second versions of the commercials airing in regional markets.