Do you think the new Orville Redenbacher’s TV ads are as creepy as I do?
The digitized version of Mr. Redenbacher now haunting the air waves looks like a cross between a zombie and a corpse. Definitely NOT appetizing.
Many years ago I sold industrial supplies to Orville Redenbacher’s. I never met the man, but every employee I worked with was wonderful. It was a blue, unassuming factory on a lonely stretch of US 30 just outside Valparaiso, Indiana. Redenbacher made an ideal spokesman–a down-to-earth, plainspoken Midwesterner with a product good enough to compete against the big boys. (Not completely accurate, since by then the company was owned by Hunt-Wesson, Inc.)
But still … Very appealing. Very appetizing.
Apparently ConAgra thinks if down-to-earth is good, six-feet-under-the-earth is even better. Wrong! It’s no longer David (Orville) versus Goliath (ConAgra, et al.). Goliath ate David, and now Orville Redenbacher’s is just another brand. End of story.
ConAgra has recreated the body of Orville Redenbacher’s Gourmet Popping Corn, but with all their money they can’t recreate its soul.
Good post!
ConAgra can pull this off in part because of the nature of broadcast mediums like radio and TV.
I once knew a pastor who had a national radio program. I asked him why so many “radio preachers” were fakes.
His answer, “I can claim to be an honest person on the radio and the people listening don’t know if I am telling the truth or not. If my staff doesn’t speak up, I’m home free.”
That was before the Internet and social networking software.
I wonder if “raising Orville” from the dead will really work for ConAgra?
Found your blog by way of Robyn McMaster. Glad I did.
Keep creating,
Mikew
Thanks, Mike. I think you’re right that social media can help unmask frauds and expose bad ideas (like the Orville campaign). Thank you also for visiting my blog!
I am hungry for some home popped popcorn (do not use a microwave) and am extremely disappointed to see that Redenbacher’s is owned by ConAgra (con artists in the agriculture?). Is it GMO corn now in the popcorn as well?
Haha – I just noticed the dates on the other postings – 2007. I guess I am a little behind the times but what can I say? I don’t subscribe to t.v. and / or news media. Go organic and keep reading labels (and maybe clean out my pantry a little more often).