For the longest time, if companies were advertising a
product or service they would show a happy heterosexual, racially similar
family with two kids in their ads. This became on the norm for what
advertisements would be. Every advertisement was the same until companies began
to notice this is wasn’t what the normal American family was anymore. Families
just like people come in all shapes and sizes. A family can have two moms or two
dads, a blended family, a family with only one parent, or an interracial
family. Honeymaid, the graham cracker company, had a persuasive campaign to try
to fix what we call a “normal” family.
Launched
earlier this year, the “This is wholesome” campaign showcased a whole array of
families. It shows consumers how much the American family has changed. The ad
showcases a two-dad family, a rocker family, a single dad, an
interracial family, and a military family. These families would be considered
broken but with Honeymaid’s #NotBroken campaign these families are shown like
they are everyday people.
Honeymaid
knew that their ad would cause some controversy and it did as soon as it
premiered. Social media was all in frenzy with supporters and haters just like
with anything that causes main issues to be questioned. The main idea of the
campaign some consumers were opposed to was the two-dad family. Honeymaid responded to this by creating
another ad taking all the information tweeted at them and making something out
of it. The ad has two artists taking all the hateful comments to the ad
campaign, which were but not limited to “This is disgusting!”, “Totally not
wholesome”, and “I Do Not Approve” and made art with them. The artists rolled
up the hateful comments, glued them together, and made the word love. The
artists then took positive comments, which contained statements like “This
makes me heart happy”, “I love what Honeymaid has done here”, and “This is
beautiful” and filled in the rest of their art with them. The artists did the
same process as they did with the hateful comments and they just filled in and
outlined the word love with all the positive comments.
Honeymaid
wanted to sent forth the idea that family is first in their ad campaign. They
also wanted the public to know that they are a family brand. It doesn’t matter
what type of family you have, it’s how happy you are within that family unit.
The “this is wholesome” persuasive ad campaign has two meaning behind it. On
one hand, it is actually describing the product. Their graham crackers are made
with 100% whole grain. On the other
hand, the hand is talking about how the families featured in the ad are
wholesome. Honeymaid showcases how just because your family isn’t what “normal”
is, doesn’t mean that your family isn’t just as good or even better then what
the “normal” family is.
This
topic would work well with Robert Mapplethorpe’s work. Mapplethorpe was a trailblazer
in exploring homosexual themes. Honeymaid’s ad called “Dad & Papa” explores
a two-dad family as just an everyday family. The family does everything a
“normal”, “traditional” family does. The ad shows the two-dads talking about
being excited to be parents and taking care of their children.
Sources:
- Beeson, L. (2014). Art as Persuasion: Visual Rhetoric. In Persuasion: Theory and applications. New York: Oxford University Press.
This is a great campaign to examine; but be careful of making any assumptions about Honey Maid having any intention to "try to fix what we call a “normal” family." Corporations do not design ads to make social statements - they design ads to appeal to consumers in a variety of ways. When you describe Honey Maid's ads, you imply that they wish to present themselves as more "wholesome" than their competitors - but this is an excellent example of a "Weasel Word" that is both meaningless and inarguable.
ReplyDeleteYou do a good job of pointing out how the images chosen by the campaign are compelling. Don't forget to examine the realities of the market as well - was there a need for HM to make their product more distinctive? What is the evidence of the public trend you suggest this commercial reflects? Do you think other graham cracker makers do NOT want to "put family first" or that they are a "family brand"?
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