“It’s about people,” they say, before they make it about the brand.
The new Frito-Lay “It’s about people” commercial starts with facts and empathy. It sets a tone that we all yearn for in this moment. We need hope and faith in each other right now — a commitment to do right by one another. And we need everyone. Politicians, newscasters, CEOs, preachers, weathermen, and yes, even corporations, need to step up and respond to this moment in our nation’s history.
We have for so long been told that the fate of America’s corporations is the fate of our economy, and that this is the fate of our nation. So we likewise believe that our corporations might be able to save us in a time of crisis.
However, the commercial’s promising premise is cheapened by its final call to action where, in the moment of truth, they undermine their powerful message to remind us that it’s just a commercial, and it is just a brand.
When it starts, the commercial catches your attention with its stark contrast to the glitter and pomp of prime time TV and the show and ads around it.
White words appear on a black background. “Things are hard right now.”
A simple piano line — one insistent note and a few companions, providing some body and warmth without a clear melody.
It’s already an anti-ad. No jingle. No melody. No harmonic hook to catch in your head as you cruise the check-out impulse racks.
And the words themselves hit a resonant note: “The world doesn’t need brands to tell us how to think or feel.”
True.
In this unprecedented moment of heartache and uncertainty, this ad promises to soothe and comfort us. To offer us hope. We want to feel cared for, and part of something larger than ourselves. At a time when a false choice has been created, framing this moment as a decision between saving the economy or saving thousands of lives, we don’t want to be torn between crass commercialism and our dearest values.
“The world needs brands to take action.”
We need everyone who can to take action. Even if it is a brand.
Nine seconds into such a promising commercial is no time for me to point out the difference between a “brand” and a “company” is it? We can let this slide.
Because this statement is also true. We don’t need brands or companies to tell us how to think or feel, but we do need companies to take action.
Frito-Lay nailed the first 1/6 of the commercial. Promising.
Frito-Lay appropriately blows their own horn
We are savvy people. We know that Frito-Lay didn’t spend thousands of dollars on a prime time TV ad and slot just to tell us things we already know.
Of course they are going to get some mileage from it. That is the point of advertising.
They can be forgiven, or even applauded, for using that time to discuss their relief efforts.
I just wish their first effort didn’t feel a little bit like something they were doing anyway.
“Creating 3,000 new full-time jobs with benefits” is certainly great. However, it is in line with the sudden new trends in grocery and processed food sales.
Forbes magazine has reported on the sudden dramatic growth in grocery sales, with many major grocers showing a 20% or up to 40% growth over this same month last year. Placer.Ai also reports that some major grocers have seen “supersized” year-over-year growth, and suggests this is due in part to uncertainty about the impacts of coronavirus. Both sites report that bulk grocers are seeing increased foot traffic.
A company that produces snacks with long shelf lives is likely getting more than its share of the increased grocery and bulk purchase sales.
That is to say, those 3,000 jobs most certainly are not solely a charitable effort on the part of Frito-Lay. They are needed to meet the growing demand for their products.
Certainly not in a world where job cuts often prompt stocks to soar.
But Frito-Lay recovers nicely.
“Donating over $15 Million towards relief efforts across North America.”
“Providing 20 Million nutritious meals for at-risk students and families.”
They name some of the charitable organizations they were already paired with, including Food for Good and No Kid Hungry.
They even boast — appropriately — about interventions that are outside of their normal laudable civic improvement.
Frito-Lay reports a significant amount of charitable donations in response to coronavirus, filling a need almost as big as our need to eat: our need for access to COVID-19 testing.
“And funding mobile health clinics across the U.S. … to provide COVID-19 screenings for the public.”
That is a serious, meaningful step into a gaping void in our response to the coronavirus.
But let’s not forget what we came here for.
Doubling down on “no brand”
It’s still a commercial after all. An anti-brand, anti-advertising commercial.
They later flash these words: “We’re not changing our logo.” Okay, we get it, you’re anti-logo too. Self-loathing marketers, unite!
“We’re not asking America to donate for us.”
That is genuinely stirring. Sure, it’s an ad, but leading by example is sorely missing these days. And it is okay if they are asking us to donate WITH them.
The American TV viewer can be a little bit cynical. Especially when watching commercials. However, I wanted to believe.
I especially wanted to believe them when they claimed “This is not about brands.”
I spoke aloud to my TV, startling my wife. “Don’t make it about the brand.”
I was stirred again when they proclaimed, “This is about people.”
These words were displayed over the face of a young girl, then over doctors discussing a chart, and several more people doing everyday quarantine-type stuff we are all doing these days: video conferencing or playing in our pajamas.
“Don’t do it,” I said aloud again. I’ve been fooled before.
Too bad it’s still a commercial
In his article for Fast Company, Jeff Beer has a pretty solid take on what happens in this ad, but he undersells the reason it is so disappointing.
“Frito-Lay’s new COVID-19 ad is an anti-brand manifesto. Too bad it’s still a commercial.”
As titles go, that’s a pretty accurate top line read of his article, and it is on point. The more Frito-Lay protests, the more rational it is to believe that they will blow it.
Beer is right when he says that a company is well within their rights to brag on their good works. Or, as he puts it so eloquently, “If a (corporate do-gooding) tree falls in a (media) forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Pics or it didn’t happen, right?”
So it is okay, a good practice even, to talk about your good work with your advertising budget.
Not that I don’t love a good Doritos ad. It’s just that those messages can be a little more troubling than usual during a pandemic.
Companies have gotten this right before. Think of Nike or Budweiser, staking out a feeling or a claim or even addressing controversial topics without shoving logos and brands down our throats. Sure, they work their logo into the messaging somehow, but they do it discreetly, or at least without claiming they are not here to do it.
Frito-Lay is boasting that they are in the process of doing the same thing. It is, after all, a “no brands” commercial. It’s about people.
Have we ever needed this more? This is a crisis of Pearl Harbor or 9/11 proportions, only it is unfolding slowly across our nation, and with a much higher toll in bodies and dollars.
“Don’t do it!” I say again, to no one in particular, as the commercial approaches the one minute mark.
The screen responds, “And this is just the start.”
The moment of truth
This “just the start” message was the next to last slide. Intriguing. Were they promising more civic action? More commercials featuring people who are not eating their products? Increased hiring?
Or providing even more of what the U.S. hungers for the most: available COVID-19 testing?
One thing for sure, there were not going to be any brands here, if they were to be believed.
I didn’t believe. “Don’t do it! No!” I shouted, waiting for the last slide …
If a (corporate do-gooding) tree falls in a (media) forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Pics or it didn’t happen, right? — Jeff Beer from Fast Company.
They could tell us how to get involved if we choose. They could even direct us to their website to get involved. Organize us. That is all fair game, and it all aligns with their “no brand” theme.
But, no. They still — after all that talk of not doing brands — were unable to prevent themselves from sneaking their branding in there.
See if you can spot the subtle logo placement in their final placard:
“Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!”
Did you see it?
Me too.
Well, that was bold, all right, Frito-Lay. To spend 50 seconds telling us you’re not about brand, and even a full slide saying you’re not here to change your logo (what was that about anyway?), then to clap us in the face with … your logo.
Brands, or should I say companies, have gotten this right in the past. Marketers are magicians. Frito-Lay nearly pulled off the old “good citizen” trick, except they told us which hand to watch. You just can’t end a “no brands” ad with a prominent logo placement.
And when you go to the site, you don’t see what you might expect. It says this: “Please email us to share how you’re helping your community and how additional support can make an impact at flnaaction@pepsico.com.”
I applaud their work and their activism. I see this as an effort to find a way to walk with people instead of simply acting in their already-established ways to assist our communities. I fully understand the need to advertise it. We should come together. We should talk about it openly, offering praise and support for one another’s efforts. And if rallying behind Lay’s potato chips is what it takes for some Americans to get in the fray, I welcome it.
I just wanted there to really, truly, be no brand. No logo.
I wanted to believe.