Avocados from Mexico won’t be advertising on the Super Bowl. Still, it’s hoping it found something better: In what it says is a first for any produce brand, the company has turned NFL star Rob Gronkowski into an avatar. Fans get to hear themselves called by name in a simulated phone call and listen to him weigh in with some of his favorite guac-inspired recipes.
Called the Guacline, the platform creates a two-way, sharable interaction.
The brand has advertised in eight of the last 10 Super Bowls, and whether avocados are on the game or not, “it’s so important that we be part of the Game Day conversation,” says Alvaro Luque, AFM’s CEO and president. “The Super Bowl is the No. 1 consumption time for avocados, and we own the market. For us, it is a moment to shine.”
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He says the Guacline brings the spirit of playful innovation to the game. And Gronkowski, an NFL character as serious about clowning around as he is about food, makes an ideal partner.
Last year, Avocados from Mexico also skipped the Super Bowl spot in favor of an AI experience recipe-themed -- “and that worked very well for us,” Luque tells
Marketing Daily.
The company is also deepening its college-game commitments.
This activation means the brand will be around the Super Bowl, even if it isn’t on it. And Luque says the campaign has several more Gronk surprises to reveal between now and game day.
So far, Luque is pleased with the earned media the activation is generating, and says paid media is also driving consumer traffic to the site. And Gronkowski, with his large social media following, will add Instagram stories to the media mix.
But Luque acknowledges that creating the Guacline, with help from digital experience agency 270B, wasn’t easy.
For all its cultural relevance, many people see AI -- especially deepfake technology -- as more creepy than clever. That meant establishing plenty of guardrails early on, keeping Gronk and the brand safe.
“Of course, because we’re using his image, voice and face to interact with consumers, we needed 100% approval from Gronk for every element of the activation.”
At the same time, Luque says, “we also report to the USDA. We need to be sure that every message we put out there is also aligned and USDA-approved.”
To use the activation, people type in their first name and have the impression that the Gronk avatar is speaking to them in response. But it’s not.
“It would be too risky to have Gronk parrot back what anyone said,” Luque says. Instead, the agency created a bank of safe names from many different cultures that the avatar draws from.
Anything unrecognizable, or -- let’s say -- a string of expletives, will prompt Gronk to simply use a generic greeting, such as “Hi, friend.”
Adds Luque: “The last thing we’d want is to have Gronk seem to be saying something terrible.”
As the game gets closer, the company will track multiple metrics besides avocado sales, including engagement rates, likes and shares. “We’re also measuring the potential of a tool like these going forward,” he says.
“The Super Bowl has been a playground for us for 10 years. We want to keep at it and become the most innovative produce brand in the world.”