Are you concerned about the possibility that an incompetent commander in chief could lead us to the brink of nuclear disaster? Does the fact that the Doomsday Clock is now the closest it has been to midnight since 1953 give you anxiety? Do you like sushi? What do these questions have in common?
TDA_Boulder launched a campaign for Colorado sushi chain Hapa Sushi playing on apocalyptic fears, entitled “Eat Well Before It All Ends.” The campaign looks no further than the president’s twitter feed for inspiration. In fact, it more or less provides the creative for the agency, as there’s perhaps no better source to stoke existential fears of humanity’s demise.
The tweets in question include a 2015 prepresidential run rant about the “only global warming we should fear” being caused by “nuclear weapons” in the hands of “incompetent pols” and Trump’s recent baiting of North Korean leader Kin Jong-Un, naturally leading into the “Eat Well Before It All Ends” tagline. Might as well try the fugu!
The campaign is running across social media outlets, in OOH and in Colorado-focused publications such as Yellowscene, Out Front, 5280, The Rooster, Boulder Weekly, Denver Hotel and ColoradoBiz.
“Unfortunately, our president is Trump. Fortunately, he makes a joke out of himself so we don’t have to,” TDA_Boulder executive creative director Jonathan Schoenberg said in a statement. “We decided to use his tweets as a scary indication that the world as we know it might end under his power. But, let’s eat some really good sushi before it does.”
Suggesting you should go ahead and go for it since we all might die anyway is certainly a bold strategy for a sushi restaurant about 1,000 miles away from the nearest ocean, but it is certainly attention-grabbing. Taking a stand against Trump will likely not scare away too many local patrons for Hapa Sushi. According to a November poll, 64 percent of Coloradans held an unfavorable view of the president.
It’s not the first time TDA_Boulder has played on recent events for the Denver-based sushi outlet. Following Colorado’s legalization of cannabis in 2014, the agency developed a pairing menu for cannabis strains and types of sushi.
And since we may not find a better excuse to include it in a post, here’s the most beautiful song ever written about the nuclear apocalypse, “Final Day” by Young Marble Giants.
CREDITS
Client: Hapa Sushi
Agency: TDA_Boulder
Art Director: Ande Eich
Copywriter: Zola Owsley
Creative Directors: Jeremy Seibold, Alex Rice
Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Schoenberg
Client Services Director: Christi Tucay Clark
Assistant Account Executive: Martha Powers
Account Coordinator: Brook Hemze
Media Director: Samantha Johnson
Media Supervisor: Heather Lee