- Milk-Bone is parodying corny romantic comedy trailers with ads that can appear in movie theaters and thru in-cinema out-of-home placements, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
- “Howl You Know,” a part of the brand’s “More Dog” campaign, bursts with rom-com tropes as actor Katelyn Tarver portrays a hapless single who has a meet cute with a dog as a substitute of a love interest and eventually learns to change into a confident pet owner.
- Milk-Bone is extending its faux production company’s content to social media with 15- and 30-second trailers riffing on other genres, including horror. TV, online video and audio buys also factor into the hassle tapping into popular culture.
Milk-Bone, the dog biscuits brand marketed by The J.M. Smucker Co., is hoping to catch consumers off-guard as they head to theaters for the vacation season. “Howl You Know,” which has a title echoing existing rom-coms, will play before actual movie trailers, aiming to attract viewers in with a convincing faux teaser before revealing it’s an ad. The announcement cited data that claim 71% of moviegoers go to the cinema to catch trailers, though frustration with long trailer times can be well-documented.
“Howl You Know” was directed by Sammi Cohen (Netflix’s “You’re So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah”) and is sprinkled with in-jokes, corresponding to review blurbs from a “G’Dog” publisher and accolades from the “Boops & Boops” film festival. Posters promoting the movie, which may also appear in cinemas, are rated DP for “Dog People Content.”
The campaign was developed by PSOne, Publicis Groupe’s dedicated unit for J.M. Smucker, with creative led by BBH USA. Alan Wilson, senior vice chairman and group creative director at BBH USA, positioned “Howl You Know” as part of a bigger comeback for humor in promoting.
Milk-Bone is running additional social content to support its tackle Hollywood production, with red carpet footage, director’s chair interviews and other trailer parodies. One for a horror film titled “The Barkening” builds to a jump-scare moment, but quite than a monster lurking in the shadows, it’s a Welsh Corgi, inspiring a scream of pleasure as a substitute of fear from the protagonist.
Milk-Bone’s “More Dog,” which launched two years ago, goals to higher align the brand with popular culture trends and function a distraction from habits like doomscrolling. Previous ideas stemming from the platform include a line of streetwear with Only NY and a team-up with sister brand Jif that poked fun at oddball brand collaborations through a fictional perfume carrying a peanut butter scent.
Movie parodies have change into common in marketing as brands try to offer entertainment that doesn’t immediately read as promotional. CeraVe, the L’Oréal skincare marketer, earlier this yr also dropped a fake rom-com trailer where the fundamental character’s beau finally ends up being a bottle of lotion.
Read the total article here
