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| Provocative ads featuring a tough-talking grandmother |
Kraft Foods has drawn attention — and some criticism — to a new ad campaign promoting its Athenos hummus.
The brand's new spokeswomen are a bunch of cantankerous "Yiayia's" (Greek for grandmother) who enjoy ridiculing their grandchildren.
In the first television spot, a young woman serves her friends Athenos hummus. In response, her Yiayia comments that the hostess dresses like a prostitute. The hostess does a verbal double-take and the Greek grandmother repeats the word "prostitute" for good measure.
In a second spot, another Yiayia tells her granddaughter she's "going to hell" for living with a guy before marriage. Yiayias are apparently renowned for this kind of malevolence, and their descendants love them for it!
The campaign - aimed at going viral - is raising eyebrows for its saucy language and stereotypes of Greek culture. The spots close when the narrator points out that at least Yiayia endorses Athenos hummus. "Athenos may be the only thing approved by Yiayia."
Jill Baskin, director of advertising at Kraft, says the brand means no offense. "While these ads may be controversial, for the most part people will see them for the light-hearted fun they are having," she says. "Any Greek Americans we ran them by thought they were really funny."
The ad was created by the agency Droga5/New York, which said in a statement that it is “thrilled to be working with a company so willing to push creative boundaries.”
See the other Athenos commercials
They apparently did not run them past Maria Anagnostopoulos, program director at The Greek Institute, who says: "These commercials are not appropriate from a Greek perspective."
The Athenos line is targeted at women in their 20s. Sales of Greek foods are off the charts, with Greek yogurt sales up 160% over the past year, to $589 million, Nielsen reports.
Public relations guru Katie Paine says the ad will have strong appeal to the brand's young target but won't likely meet Kraft's goal of going viral. "You just can't plan to go viral."
Sources:
1. Bruce Horovitz, "Kraft Ads With Criticizing Grandma Get Criticized," USA Today, February 28, 2011
2. Lewis Lazare, "Athenos Ad Authentic, Amusing," Chicago Sun Times, March 1, 2011
3. Tim Nudd, "Bitchy Old Women Promoting Kraft Hummus," AdWeek (AdFreak.com), February 28, 2011
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