Sun 27 Sep 2009
iTurkeySpread
Posted by anaglyph under Daft Advertising, Food & Drink, Food Science, Idiots, In The News, Ouch, Stupidity
[38] Comments
Good iMorning iCowpokes!
Well, down here in sunny ((That’s sarcasm, in case anyone missed it.)) iMelbourne we have just survived the insanity that is iGrand iFinal iFootball whereat the official name for the new Vegemite product (formerly known as ‘Name Me’) was kicked off. And as promised, the iCow is bringing the new name to you hot off the iPress.
I know what you’re thinking – that image above is a cheeky Photoshopped pisstake of the actual name which I’m going to reveal to you in due course…
…
…
…
Was that long enough for the cold reality sink in? Yes dear iFriends, the people at iKraft, demonstrating a dorkiness that transcends anything I thought was even possible, have climbed on the iBandwagon and, in some kind of bizarre and incomprehensible grab for what we can only assume to be their concept of coolness, named their product iSnack 2.0. It’s worse than I could possibly have imagined. And I can imagine pretty bad possibilities.
How many kinds of wrong can be encapsulated here? The whole ‘i’ phenomenon has become so hackneyed and feeble that it’s really only Apple that can carry it off in any way, and that’s solely because it’s their heritage. Aside from anything, the ‘i’ was originally intended to designate ‘internet’ and if there’s one thing that Kraft and Vegemite has demonstrated extremely clearly, it’s their complete lack of intertubes acumen. Further to this, as if to underline their credentials as people who have totally missed the boat, they’ve appended the meaningless (but OH so hip…) ‘2.0’ to the name – if anything it would be Vegemite 2.0, not iSnack 2.0, which by any proper reckoning has just come out of beta and is in v.1.0.
What were they thinking?
38 Responses to “ iTurkeySpread ”
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They weren’t thinking
Nor were they iThinking
iHappy iBirthday 2.0 U
Could be worse, you could have this fine gourmet product.
I can hear the words in Midsomer:
“So what’ve we got?”
“We found traces of iSnack in his bloodwork Tom.”
“So he was murdered then?”
“Looks that way, must have been excruciating.”
“Thanks George, I’m off to find a jar!”
The (v)iKing
it’s
seriously
not
a
cop-out
–kraft
Very droll Atlas.
The King
Be glad they went fer a cool Apple-connecktion.
Othrwise it mighta been calld ‘BingDip’.
Jesus! “Looks like turd; tastes like Vegemite” would’ve been better than that!
The 2.0 only shows that they know they’re likely going to have to keep tinkering with it and go with uSnack 3.0 because, realy “ur” the one they want to do the snacking. No one cares what Kraft is snacking on, which would be where iSnack would be applicable. When they get to ySnack 4.0, you’ll know they’ve hit the end of the lettered and numbered snack-name-maiming road.
Shoudnt they be thinkin o renamin Bonox too?
Moocilage?
iPuke?
iSnack, therefore iAm.
97% of respondents to Karl Stephonovic’s morning show phone-in poll hated the name. (er .. I was only listening to it because I was at the gym).
Atlas: Rene would be proud. An aphorism for the modern world. You should work in advertising.
Cissy Strutt: What’s not to hate?
Words fail me.
I see a room full of 60 year old execs saying:
“Yea Dude iSnack is cool Man, how about we add V2.0 as well.”
So so so so so so so so Lame.
S.
Oh yeah. You got it. Lame is definitely the word.
Oh it’s all to hate. But Karl’s listeners are showing uncharacteristic good sense. They aren’t usually so good at spotting iBullshit
Nothing like being hated by the intelligentsia and morons alike. I wonder if Kraft will have the sense to cut their losses and quietly usher iSnack from the room…?
Actually, I’m going to make a prediction – I predict that the ‘2.0’ will vanish from the labels in a while, and then the name will change. Then the product will disappear. And in the meantime, Vegemite will just quietly soldier on.
Let’s see how good I really am.
I won’t believe any predictions made at the Cow unless they are done by Sister Veronica.
Wise.
TiCA hee hee
It’s all the rage, I hear.
Codral soldiers on, Vegemite makes you happy.
I hear that there’s a new Codral/bread combination called iCodral. If you have it with eggs in the morning it allows you to toasted-soldier on.
When the product flops, can we say iToldyouso?
I disagree and think it is brilliant.
My experience is that big marketing departments often employ young and very savvy people. The fact that the ‘i’ phenomenon has become hackneyed is precisely why it is brilliant. Each of your arguments about why it is a bad name seems to me to say that it is obviously intended as a joke. It strikes me as sharp self-deprecating humour from a big marketing department.
I think they did a great job of capturing a very Australian sense of humour. So, I admire their courage in actually following through with a clever joke.
Oh come on Ben. If it was meant as a joke aimed at an ‘Australian’ sense of humour, then pretty much every Australian has failed to get it. So it’s still a big whoopsy whichever way you look at it. I’m an Australian and it certainly doesn’t capture my sense of humour – I’d throw myself under a train if that was my standard. And in my extensive experience with marketing departments, I can tell you one thing for sure – they certainly don’t have a sense of humour. You might think it’s a joke, the guy who named it might even have intended it as a joke, but it seems that no-one at Kraft or their advertising agency are in on it.
Let me quote you Simon Talbot from Kraft Foods:
Personal call to action? Relevance to snacking? WTF? Does any of that strike you as hip irony or a ‘sharp deprecating sense of humour’? It sounds just like self-justifying marketing doublespeak to me. It’s all too familiar to my ears.
You give them too much credit my friend.
Come back in two years time and tell me I’m wrong. I’ll still be here, but iSnack 2.0 will be nothing but the memory of a bad business decision.
The absurdity of Simon Talbot’s statement only serves to reinforce the fact that this has to be a joke.
Take a look at the “Name Me” ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wVmuUEOZe8
and then the “Vegemite Census” ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhGpPDLd0w
You can’t deny that they’re very aware of technology and are having fun with anachronism and the age of Vegemite. Look at the way that in the “Vegemite Census” ad, they awkwardly tell us to “use a computer to provide us with this information” (with a corny graphic), as though they’re from 20 years ago and have never used one.
iSnack 2.0 is a good punch line to the “name me” ad.
I think the problem is that they misjudged how long it would take for enough people to realize it is a joke, to convince those who don’t get it. Eventually you’ll come around. You’ll be giggling when you see it in the supermarket next.
Do you work for the advertising agency responsible for the new branding Ben? You’re certainly more than generous in attributing a sense of ironic humour to the naming of iSnack 2.0.
I saw both those ads well before the new naming, so if there was a joke to be had there I was as primed as anyone to get it. There just isn’t. It’s not funny. It’s not even clever. Those ads fit into the category of ‘wacky’ advertising – usually promoted by ad agencies when they’re at a loss as to how make a marketless product seem like it will be ‘fun for everybody!’ There is not a whit of what constitutes ‘sharp self-deprecating humour’ in either of those pieces. It’s all ‘crazy/wacky/gee-aren’t-we-kooky humour’.
As to Simon Talbot’s statement being a joke, well, the problem is that it’s identical to advertising waffle that isn’t a joke, so how is anyone supposed to tell? Maybe you’re going to tell me that Talbot didn’t actually know it’s a joke and it’s some kind of clever post-modernist practical joke played on him by marketing?
And as for them ‘misjudging’ how long it would take for people to ‘get’ the joke, well, I don’t have to be a comedian to tell you that everything is in the timing. Misjudging the timing = not being funny.
Giggling in the supermarket when next I see it? Probably. But not for the reasons you suggest.
Well I’m shocked.
No, I don’t work for Kraft or their advertising agency (nor do I know anyone who does). I found your site a few weeks ago when I searched for “Bonox”, while drinking it for the first time in preparation for a hospital visit.
I know Talbot’s waffle is similar to other waffle, but his is far too weird. Beyond the usual waffle you’d expect from a marketer. As you say, “call to action? relevance to snacking? wtf?”.
These people have husbands and wives and friends and family and children. They would have tested their partners’ reactions. I bet the difference is that in the intimate settings of family, they were able to explain it was a joke.
I don’t think this is a case of misjudging timing, but maybe something more like a Chaser prank with a surprising over-reaction. It takes time for the outrage to pass, and maybe to have it explained, before the humorous side becomes more clear.
Ah yeah, I remember you now! I hope hospital wasn’t too traumatising!
I still disagree with you – I just don’t think anyone concerned is as clever as you give them credit for. I worked in advertising for many many years and I’ve seen this kind of campaign on numerous occasions. You’re cutting them a great deal of slack which they seriously don’t deserve.
I guess you can’t be convinced.
But when they officially confess to it being a joke, then I’ll be back here again to say “told you so”. :)
As for the hospital, the preparation was much worse than the procedure (thanks to some delightful sedation).
Ben, the joke is on you. I am afraid that it is not a joke. Witness the spot on Today Tonight. This is such a poorly thought out campaign, it smacks of “Uber Cool” that is so not.
S.
Um, Ben…the idea that it could be in any possible way representative of an “Australian sense of humour” is ludicrous.
We have Toyota ads where everyone says “bugger”.
We have tourism ads that ask “where the bloody hell are you?”
And watching Chaser pranks we don’t have to wonder if it’s meant to be funny or not. We laugh our arses off without confusion.
In those timeless ( and very Oz) words from The Castle, “get your hand off it Daryl”.
You have to be quick (or pause it) to read these subtitles, but: the latest in the series
JR: now that’s funny. “Milo tin and soup spoon” ROFL.