Cow farts, pig dung, and the sad, left-behind cows who didn’t escape and become guerilla-style Chic-fil-A spokesanimals are all prominently featured in the new Long John Silver’s campaign.
Sometimes when working on a food account, my colleagues and I invoke something we call “The Appetizing Test.” It’s not meant to be constricting or ironclad, but it is supposed to make the team calm down for a minute and make sure the humor or the intellectual point being made isn’t swamped, overshadowed, obscured, negated, or otherwise superseded by revulsion, the temptation to say “ewww,” or some other gross-out-face-making reaction.
If the overwhelming reaction to seeing the ad, regardless of the validity of the point or hilarity of the joke being made, is “Oh, yuck, I sure don’t feel hungry now,” then one must at least question whether that ad is the best direction.
It’s easy to see Long John’s problems: he hasn’t come back ’round to being hip or retro; the reputation his food has is Fried Fried Fried even though he’s tried to offer healthy options; and he has a case to make. Fish is a good option for a family sick of burgers and chicken fingers. Here he’s trying a little humor to deliver that message and regain the customer counts that were once rightfully his. He sees the landlubbers at Chipotle hammering their argument home in innovative ways; he sees Chic-fil-A succeeding in a direct, humorous assault. Avast ye, burger joints! And, uh, pig joints!
Ah, well. Pirates are not known for their delicate manners, I suppose.
