And the folks at Kraft know it. In fact they’re openly exploiting it. I’m referring to the recent Miracle Whip campaign. If you haven’t seen it, do so:
http://www.youtube.com/miraclewhip

We as consumers are bombarded by marketing hype everyday. To the point we ignore the vast majority of it. Claiming to be the best, fastest, easiest, cheapest, least filling, best tasting, lightest, heaviest, biggest, smallest, and absolute coolest thing ever is just wasted breath. So stop. Please, just stop. No one is listening. And why should we? It’s you reviewing your own product. What else are you gonna say? That people hate it?!

Well, in the case of Miracle Whip, yes.

In fact, that’s the first line of their ad: “On a scale of 1 to 10, I hate miracle whip at, like, 22.”

And she’s not the only one. As of right now, 3,213 people agree with her, according to the counter on the Miracle Whip site at least. Meanwhile (as hard as it is for me to believe) 44,508 claim to love the stuff.

The question is whether a company embraces the culture and truth around their product or denies it.

The truth is, with social media being what it is today, these types of conversations are happening whether or not anyone is keeping count. The question is whether a company embraces the culture and truth around their product or denies it and pretends it’s something that it’s not. Marketers can’t keep telling everyone how great their product is, when we’ve already said how we feel about it via our blogs, Facebook pages, videos, and comments. We’re not buying it. Literally even.

So, although it may have just been the inevitable outcome of embracing social media while marketing a disgusting product, I give huge props to the firm that came up with this campaign, and even more to the folks at Miracle Whip who had the guts to give it the green light.

This campaign is so refreshing it makes me wish I liked the stuff. Maybe I’ll give it another try… naaah.

A couple other examples of marketing embracing the truth:
Marmite: http://www.marmite.com
Dominos Pizza: http://www.pizzaturnaround.com
Crocs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrKFXcRrn90