What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about Smarties? Candy-coated chocolate nuggets of happiness? Calories and tooth decay? Talking blue cats? If you’ve seen the latest TV spot by JWT Toronto, chances are it’s the latter.
To announce the candy’s reintroduction of the colour blue to its tasty team of treats, the agency went with a falsetto-voiced feline that encourages his couch-bound master to enjoy a box of Smarties. Copywriter Gord Yungblut and art director Jason Soucé answered a few questions about the origins of the idea, walking the fine line of ‘weird’ and more.
Marketing: Where did the idea for this spot come from?
Yungblut/ Soucé: The Blue Cat is very persuasive. He showed up on the couch in our office and before we knew it, the script had been written. He mentioned something about wanting to change society’s perceptions of animals of colour. We hope we’ve done that.
Marketing: What is it about candy that allows for such an eccentric approach to its advertising?
Yungblut/ Soucé: The target for many candy products is 13- to 17-year olds, a notoriously difficult group to engage. Because of this, you need to do something that they can’t look at and say, ‘Seen it before’ and then tune out. And then put on their baggy pants and turn on their loud rock and roll music. TURN IT DOWN, YOU CRAZY KIDS.
Marketing: How do you know when the weird is just right?
Yungblut/ Soucé: It’s a fine line. You want to make sure you’re not just being weird to be weird. It needs to have a point and get the message across. It’s a good sign if everyone’s laughing in the editing suite. Vodka also helps.
Marketing: Why a cat, as opposed to another pet animal?
Yungblut/ Soucé: We wanted an animal that had a bit of authority to cause the magical transformations to take place. Cats are naturally independent and have a sense of superiority. Also, cats are just plain weird. Seriously. Look at them. Weird.
Marketing: Will we be seeing other blue animal interpretations in subsequent spots?
Yungblut/ Soucé: Reaction to the spot has been amazing so far, so we’re not ruling it out.
