Meat eaters can proclaim their carnivorous pride by becoming a citizen of the Republic of Bacon, a new web destination promoting Maple Leaf Foods‘ resealable bacon package.
The website, RepublicOfBacon.com, is at the hub of a campaign from Maple Leaf’s agency of record John St.
Designed as a city with a 1960s Las Vegas style, the site hosts a YouTube feed curated to focus on bacon, as well as bacon recipes, uniquely created "public service announcements” on bacon safety with an earnest but lackluster Bacon Safety Sergeant, and a quiz to test how much visitors love the pork product.
Angus Tucker, co-creative director at John St., said the campaign focuses on male consumers even though, as a grocery food product, bacon would typically be advertised to women–the so-called chief household officer.
"Women like bacon, but men love bacon,” Tucker said. "We think women will buy the product because they’ll see a truth in what we’ve created. They’ll recognize their husbands and boyfriends in the characters we’ve presented.”
"We wanted this campaign to be an unconditional celebration of bacon,” said Sofia Colucci, marketing manager at Maple Leaf Foods, in a press release. "There is a passion for bacon that exists in Canada (not to mention around the world) and we wanted to create a hub for bacon lovers to congregate and engage in entertaining bacon content.”
John St. also created a new 30-second television spot showing a young woman proposing marriage to her boyfriend with the new product packaging. It first went live as a stand-alone ad a few weeks ahead of the website launch, but has since been given a new ending to drive consumers to the website.
More television ads are expected in the new year focusing on life in the website’s ficticious-but-delicious city.
