Ad of the Day: Chobani Gets Real With Ads That Are About a Lifestyle, Not a Product

Twenty seconds into Opperman Weiss' new 90-second anthem spot for Chobani, it's clear something is amiss. A family in the countryside, caked in mud, trudges through fields, but Mom and Dad aren't talking. They're a farming family, but this isn't your typical farming-themed commercial, even though it opens with the almost clichéd amber waves of grain.

"This is a modern American story," Chobani CMO Peter McGuinness told Adweek on Friday. "It's a family, and we don't know what happened with them. Something happened that involved the kids. And then they work through it as a family. And they come out of it stronger and better and closer."

Here is the anthem spot:

The point is, Chobani doesn't see a pretend world—the world of most yogurt commercials. It sees the real world. And when viewers see the authentic, real-life moments in the ads, they may be more inclined to believe the realness of the brand.

It's an approach that almost turns Chobani into a lifestyle brand—if you buy the lifestyle here, you well may buy the products, too.

The spot features an original song written for the brand by Eef Barzelay, who also appears in the spot. The song's refrain is, "To love this life is to live it naturally." The tagline itself is "Love this life," and "it's the intersection between the brand and our products and the role they play in people's lives," says McGuinness.

The 90-second anthem rolled out online Friday morning and will break in theaters Friday night before showings of The Avengers: Age of Ultron. It will also run on TV during a number of show finales this month, supported by a pair of :30s featuring the same family.

You can see those :30s here:

"We kind of went from how our yogurt is made to how our yogurt makes you feel," McGuinness adds. That kind of lifestyle play wouldn't work for every food brand, but "we think we have the authentic credibility to play in this space," he adds.

Chobani is also debuting new packaging to show the real ingredients inside each cup.

Check out the print work and credits below.