You know what’s a real thug-ass candy? Sour Patch Kids, that’s what. Know how I know? Because Method Man, the 40-year-old rapper and actor of Wu-Tang Clan and How High fame, made a music video co-starring Sour Patch Kids running around his crib and messing around in his recording studio. If you don’t think teens and young adults can connect with this sort of product/celebrity placement on an emotional level, well, you just don’t get it.
From Mother NY comes the greatest Method Man-related collaboration since he teamed up with Mary J. Blige for the 1995 hit, “I’ll Be There for You/You’re All I Need to Get By.” This new track from Meth, “World Gone Sour (The Lost Kids),” will also be featured in a new Sour Patch Kids video game. However there’s no word as of now as to whether or not it will be featured on Method Man’s new album, The Crystal Meth, expected to be released this year after a string of delays.
To be perfectly honest, I’m amazed that Mother NY got a rap legend like Method Man to be the new spokesperson for this Kraft Foods candy brand, and I applaud Method Man for doing something more child-friendly as his focus is shifting from being a hardened representative of East Coast rap to being a family man. But, as has happened with names like Ice Cube, the target audience for this campaign doesn’t remember 36 Chambers or the impact that album had on the pop music landscape.
So, it’s kind of bittersweet that today’s youth might only think of Method Man as “that Sour Patch Kids guy,” as they probably already think of Ice Cube as “that TBS sitcom guy” or Dr. Dre as “that Dr. Pepper guy.” Admittedly, I saw Ray Charles play live before he passed away, and though I had heard of his impact on music (which was obviously much more significant than any of the aforementioned rappers) and in some way understood it, it was hard not to think of him as “that guy from the Pepsi commercials.” But, at the end of the day, maybe that’s alright. At least a new generation of consumers will know the stars of yesteryear in some way. Credits after the jump.
Project Name: The Lost Kids
Agency: Mother NY
Client: Kraft/Sour Patch Kids
Creatives: Allon Tatarka, April Mathis, Blaise Cepis, Jordan Chouteau, Paul Malmstrom
Strategist Shobha Sairam, Krystal Plomatos,
Mother Imogen Bailey
Agency Producer: Emma Starzacher
Production Company: Hungryman
Executive Producer: Kevin Byrne
Producer: Brian Quinlan
Director: Taika Waititi
Editor: Lawrence Young @ No.6
Post- Production Company /CG: Framestore
Music: “The Lost Kids” – Universal Music Publishing & Island Def Jam