Mac & Cheese will turn your tweets into ads

On Monday, Crispin Porter + Bogusky began holding quick-fire Kraft Macaroni & Cheese contests, in which anyone who tweeted about Mac & Cheese had a chance at getting his or her tweet turned into a commercial. So far, they've made three spots—one of which (below) aired on TBS's Conan and Lopez Tonight last night, with two others (after the jump) getting posted to the brand's Facebook page. It looks like more Twitter-inspired spots are on the way, with the brand reaching out to people as we speak (and promising a national spot, so the TBS tie-in might be a daily thing for the time being). The brand is really into Twitter lately, having also made the cool Mac & Jinx game. And these new ads are pretty good (if rather non sequitur) for being whipped up in just a few hours. They've got decent humor, and the world's most famous homeless man is still voicing the slogan. Plus, this kind of quick content goes perfectly with the brand. Don't most people only make Mac & Cheese when they're lazy and want something fast?

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Filed under Crispin Porter, Cullers, Food and drink, Kraft, Social media, Twitter
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Jinx, give me some free Kraft Mac & Cheese

Crispin Porter + Bogusky has developed a fun new Twitter game called "Mac & Jinx" for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. It's based on the old children's game of Jinx, which is played when two people (usually unintentionally) say the same thing at the same time. (Typically, the person who's then first to say "Jinx!" jinxes the other person, who is subsequently barred from speaking until he or she is released from the jinx.) Mac & Jinx works similarly—it uses an algorithm to monitor people who utter the phrase "mac and cheese" on Twitter, randomly selects pairs of them and sends them @ messages and a link offering free Mac & Cheese to the person who responds first. It's a great little game—simple, fun, not too intrusive, and just right for a brand that's decided to be all friendly and smiley lately. ("Have a supremely awesome day," the bot tweets to its players.) Plus, it takes brand control of a game that been associated for way too long with buying someone a Coke. Via Mashable.

Filed under Crispin Porter, Food and drink, Kraft, Nudd, Twitter
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Bitchy old women promoting Kraft hummus

Droga5 is stirring up some mild controversy with its new campaign for Kraft Foods's Athenos hummus. The brand's new spokeswomen are a bunch of cantankerous yiayias (Greek for grandmother) who enjoy ridiculing their grandchildren. In the first spot below, one of them calls her granddaughter a whore for wearing a pretty tame dress. 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! 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." 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." Two more spots after the jump.

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Filed under Athenos, Droga5, Food and drink, Kraft, Nudd
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Listen to Ted Williams' Mac & Cheese debut

Ted Williams, the homeless man with the golden voice, merits sincere kudos for escaping life on the streets and attaining a measure of media stardom. As we mentioned last week, his reward includes hawking Kraft Macaroni & Cheese—and below is the first spot to feature his voiceover. The man's smooth tones espouse a vapid, feel-good Americana that's as gooey as the product being advertised. The guy's got great pipes, and his sensuous delivery of the word cheeeese makes me want to roll around naked in the stuff (though this is a recurring dream of mine anyway). Williams' involvement spices the project with unintended irony and social commentary. In the ad, by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Mac & Cheese saves the day as a suburban family serves the slop to a business contact whom dad unexpectedly brings home to dinner. (Way to impress a big client!) That story line is followed by Williams' pitch. It's jarring to think that the lines are delivered by someone who just months ago couldn't afford a helping of the stuff, and would've had to mug Kraft execs to get their attention. Now, instead of living in junk, he gets paid to shovel it to the masses. It's an American Dream come true ... or something. Could these be the final 30 seconds of Williams' 15 minutes of fame? Not so fast. At least three more spots are on the way. UPDATE: Williams has also reportedly been offered a five-second cameo in a Super Bowl commercial. No word on who the advertiser might be.

See footage from Ted's recording session after the jump.

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Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Crispin Porter, Food and drink, Gianatasio, Kraft
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'Golden voice' homeless guy does Kraft ads

Feel-good stories filled with compassion, redemption and second chances. How I hate them. Case in point: Ted Williams, the ex-radio announcer from Ohio with the velvety voice, who was living on the streets and turned to crime to support his drug and alcohol addictions. After being profiled in the local press, he's an "Internet sensation." And since this is America, TV appearances and advertising work naturally followed. For the latter, he's been tapped for voiceovers by the socially conscious, altruistic folks at Kraft Foods and Crispin Porter + Bogusky. "We were in the unique position to help Ted use his voice to gain employment and help our campaign," a kind-hearted company spokesperson explained. "We're thrilled to help Ted on his journey." Awesome, now he'll have lots of cash to get drunk and high—and probably squire January Jones to the Emmys. Kidding, of course. Contemplating his comeback makes me feel all warm inside—though it could just be heartburn from that Mac & Cheese I had for dinner. Again, kidding. Good for Ted! He's a trendsetter turning the American Dream on its ear. After all, most folks get hooked on booze and blow and watch their lives spiral out of control after becoming celebrities.

Filed under Crispin Porter, Gianatasio, Kraft
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Parents screw kids out of their Kraft dinners

We mentioned Crispin Porter + Bogusky's grinning banner ad for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Here are the agency's first TV spots in the "You know you love it" campaign. The ads explore the classic theme of parents being jerks. I don't ordinarily sympathize much with precocious TV children, but these kids are right to be pissed about Mom and/or Dad skimming their mac 'n' cheese. Clearly the parents are just being selfish and greedy. Were it not for network censorship, I'd suggest they change the tagline to "Guard your shit," as a warning to other hungry kids. See two more ads after the jump. Via Homadge.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

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Filed under Crispin Porter, Food and drink, Kiefaber, Kraft
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Kraft, CP+B unveil the mac-and-cheese cam

All hope is not lost for the much-despised banner ad (aka, the place creativity goes to die). Kraft is running a banner unit on Yahoo!'s homepage that lets users activate their webcams and control a Mac & Cheese noodle based on their smiles. See a video of the banner in action after the jump. It's a neat trick, if a bit buggy by reports. (In an effort to keep me off Chatroulette, Adweek hasn't provided me with a webcam at the office, so I wasn't able to try it firsthand.) Crispin Porter + Bogusky is behind the effort. Interactive ecd Jeff Benjamin lowers expectations in a tweet, warning it might not work if you're tan, have a beard or work in a cave. CP+B is into webcams and facial recognition. It ran a Burger King campaign that had users hold up a dollar to see what menu items it could buy. The agency also tapped facial-recognition technology in a push for Coke Zero that purported to find your Facebook doppelganger. That effort launched last December and has since shut down. Thanks to @stephenriley for the video.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

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Filed under Crispin Porter, Food and drink, Kraft, Morrissey
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Overgrown humans star in food, lottery ads

Presented for your approval, two spots where average human beings grow into giants. (Watch them after the jump.) From Australia, via Badjar Ogilvy, we have "Teenzilla" for Kraft Easy Mac. Crikey, the kid's destructive, smashing through biscuit-factory windows and ripping the tops off bakery trucks as he searches for a satisfying snack. I'd pick him to win a battle against the gradually expanding slacker dude in DDB's "Small World" commercial for the New York Lottery. Note how he trashes the newspaper as he emerges from the subway. Who needs the help-wanted section when you're a sure-bet Powerball millionaire! All it takes, we're told, is "a dollar and a dream." Reality check: If he just blew his last buck on a lottery ticket, he won't even be able to afford a single serving of Kraft Easy Mac! I guess the big doofus can always tear open bakery trucks when he gets hungry. 

—Posted by David Gianatasio

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Filed under Australia, DDB, Food and drink, Gianatasio, Kraft, Lotteries, New York Lottery
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Kraft Mac & Cheese to help blow up stadium

If you're an American, you owe your child the gift of blowing up a stadium. And in the timeliest of coincidences, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese is sponsoring the demolition of Texas Stadium, where the Dallas Cowboys and World Class Championship Wrestling once reigned supreme. The festivities coincide with Kraft's new "Cheddar Explosion" flavor, but that's a tenuous connection at best. Why does Kraft, of all people, get to blow up a stadium? That seems like more of a Verizon thing. Via Pop Candy.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Filed under Food and drink, Kiefaber, Kraft
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