72andSunny Takes on ‘UnAmerican Cheese’ for Tillamook

By Erik Oster 

72andSunny takes on the “processed cheese product” known as American cheese in a new campaign for Tillamook, even going so far as to create a petition asking for the “American” to be taken out of the product’s name.

Abraham Lincoln, riding a bear and deriding an orange slice of American cheese in a single plastic package (an obvious stab at Kraft Singles) asks, “Would our forefathers have allowed a processed cheese product to take our country’s name?” He answers his own question in the negative, affirming that you shouldn’t either. Obviously, the petition is not serious and serves to promote the superiority of Tillamook’s products while undermining competition from giants like Kraft. At the end of the spot, Lincoln suggests the country adopt Tillamook’s cheddar instead of the lackluster, processed junk bearing the country’s name. In addition to the spot, there are a pair of print ads declaring “American Cheese is Un-American!” over images of George Washington riding a bald eagle, surrounded by fire, and Betsy Ross surfing on a shark. The effort acts as an extension of the agency’s “Dairy Done Right” campaign for the brand, arriving as consumers are anticipating upcoming Fourth of July cookouts.

“We wanted to bring up the issue of real vs. unreal food at a culturally relevant moment, like when people are shopping for and celebrating a holiday,” John Russell, Tillamook’s chief marketing officer, told Mashable. “They may not realize what processed cheese is, but we want them to think about it. And we believe something called American should be 100% natural, and American cheese is definitely not.”

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