Aldi: Kevin the Carrot

Banned Aldi Commercial
(click above for video)
During my research for the first "Marketing in the News" analysis, I came across cute little Kevin the Carrot after learning about German native discount grocery store, Aldi. Since 2016 Kevin has been the star of Aldi’s major UK Christmas advertisements winning the hearts of Aldi shoppers throughout Germany. In this particular Holiday advertisement, Aldi is marketing their inexpensive but quality spirits (or alcohol) for Christmas gatherings. In the opening few seconds, Kevin is heard saying, “I see dead parsnips,” a parody of the popular line, “I see dead people,” from the movie, “The Sixth Sense.” The narrator speaks to the rhythm of, “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” as the camera phases through a few shots of fancy bottles sweating on ice and alcohol being elegantly swirled in half filled glasses. Aldi entices the viewers with the setting of a glamorous party being supplied with their classy yet budget friendly alcohol. However, Kevin hit a speed bump when the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) stated that the childlike appearance and voice of the carrot, as well as the narrator’s poem to the tune of a children’s Christmas story made the ad seem like it was targeting individuals below the age of 18. Although Aldi felt the ad was clearly geared toward a more mature crowd, the review ultimately resulted in Aldi not being allowed to broadcast this commercial as part of their ad campaign in 2018.

Through my research, I found that Aldi’s mission is to welcome customers to shop “Differentli,” by offering high-quality groceries and other household products for any budget, in a store that isn't overwhelming, and easy to navigate. Most of their ads involve people and a hint of comedic relief to the mundane grocer commercial however, Kevin brings a little extra fun and magic around the holidays. While this advertisement did feature a somewhat childish character, it’s content and humor was certainly aimed towards adults. I think that this ad was funny and clever and I would have loved to see it on the tv but I do see the angle at which the ASA is coming from. While the intent was to be humorous, the company failed to make sure that the ad wasn’t created in a way that it could be misconstrued.

 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/aldi-advert-kevin-the-carrot-ban-alcohol-spirits-advertising-standards-authority-christmas-a8219686.html
https://www.aldi.us/en/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

About Me

Image
Currently residing on a sphere floating through space in a land of never ending  uncertainty. Before Covid-19 I was a Vis. Comm. student with 3 jobs and now i'm a Vis. Comm. student who doesn't  know what to do with their free time LOL. What I'd like to do is be able to gather and catch up with all my friends but unfortunately that's off the table so... I've been keeping my hands busy by doing hand embroidery. I am hoping to get good enough at it to start selling them within the next year. The reason I've  enrolled in this course is because it is required to graduate but, I believe that the knowledge gained will be beneficial to me beyond my schooling. I am most interested in learning how to market myself as a creator. I am hoping that figuring out how to market myself/my art will help me decide on a de finitive  path with my art. (I dabble in a bit of everything and think that if I can figure out how to market myself i'll pick one area to move forward wi...
Read more

Social listening

What brand did you select? Old navy What are people saying about the company, brand or a product? How terrible the customer service has been for the past four weeks during the civic shutdown. What interested you about this brand or product? I shop there frequently. Recently indulged in some retail therapy and noticed their shipment fulfillment speed was significantly slower than usual. What is the company/brand's Value Proposition? Accessible fashion essentials for every family What are THREE specific things (both good and/or bad) people are saying? Comment on those comments, using some EXAMPLES from social media.  Feel free to include screenshots of the social media examples in your blog post. Customers have been commenting about the “lack of care and respect” the company is showing for customers through their poor customer service response during the covid crisis. Before they were complaining about the delayed processing/shipping, they were complaining...
Read more