John Mulaney is a good standup comedian, but his sitcom was destined to fail because it still had a laugh track in 2014. And it wasn’t very funny.
We mention this primarily because TDA_Boulder’s new campaign for dairy-free “cheese” company Daiya makes use of that device in showing us how ridiculously out-of-date its characters are.
The extended :60 version of the anthem spot “Cheesier Than Ever” takes that idea, runs with it, and then just keeps running.
The shorter version is more to the point, as you’d expect.
Of course Daiya doesn’t make cheese cheese. But its product is (allegedly) as close to the real thing as a simulation can get … which is the whole point of this campaign. As the release puts it, this work “makes Daiya cheese the hero through the creative expression of classic cheesy moments” which remind us that its product is very cheese-like.
Like … why even bother choosing milk-made cheese in the first place, beyond the fact that it tastes better?
Beyond these digital spots, the campaign will also include banners, in-store displays and print. (There’s also a Spotify playlist.) We are partial to the latter, which more explicitly depicts the many ways in which certain family units happen to be inherently cheesy in that retro sort of way.
Does this remind you of anyone?
Now what about convincing people who don’t have any problems processing dairy that they should eat the fake stuff instead? A bridge too far?
CREDITS
Client: Daiya Food
Art Director: Mia Nogueira
Writer: Brian Mulligan
Creative Director: Jeremy Seibold
Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Schoenberg
Producer: Lindsey Ritter & Kate Osborne
Director of Media: Sam Johnson
Media Planner: Alex Namatevs
Director of Strategy: Constance DeCherney
Account Director: Paul Siegel
Director Client Services: Christi Tucay
Production Company: Freestyle Picture Company
Director: Spencer Chinoy
EP: Kevin Chinoy
DP: Jeffrey Schneider
Post Production: Cosmo Street
Post Producer: Chelsea Spensley
Editor: Jeff Grippe
Audio: Lime studios
Mix/SFX: Zac Fisher
Color: Apache
Colorist: Steve Rodriguez