Ad of the Day: Droga5 Cooks Up a Hilariously Skewed Take on Family for Johnsonville

Most food brands prefer their family advertising to be wholesome, hopefully mirroring the product, and leave the quirkiness to candy brands on a sugar high. But Droga5's first campaign for Johnsonville upends that tradition—with ads that celebrate family in its most comically unusual forms. Among the oddball characters we meet in four new spots are a mobster neighbor; a grandmother who's actually a male drifter; and the most amusing man-child we've seen in a while. The point is that Johnsonville sausage brings people together and makes them family, whether they are or not. The casting and acting have to be top notch in a campaign like this. And for the most part, they are—the man-child is a high point in particular. (The mobster is my least favorite of the bunch.) The tagline is, "We don't make sausage. We make family. And sausage." The spots are timed to the beginning of summer grilling season, but the client wanted the message to go well beyond that—indeed, the desire to branch out and highlight its other sausage products led to the creative approach. The goal was to "translate the emotional connection and passion our consumers have for our brand and from grilling brats, and build awareness for Johnsonville beyond brats," says Fabian Pereira, vp of marketing for Johnsonville. "Johnsonville owns grilling, and that's great, but they also have a lot more to offer. Or at least a lot more sausage to offer," says Scott Bell, group creative director of Droga5. "We needed an idea that could just as easily talk about making pasta with Italian sausage or brunch with breakfast sausage. That's how we landed on the idea that when you're sharing Johnsonville, you're family. It doesn't matter if you're sharing brats at a tailgate or sharing a meal at Sunday night dinner, that act of sharing sausage forges a bond. A bond we refer to as sausage family." Bell adds: "Homer Simpson said it best when he said, 'You don't make friends with salad.' We think he'd agree that you can do better than just make friends with sausage. You can make family." Johnsonville is also planning some other fun stuff for the year, including a Brat Signal app and a "Bratfast in Bed" Father's Day campaign that encourages families to surprise Dad in bed with sausage and beer. CREDITS Client: Johnsonville Vice President, Marketing: Fabian Pereira Group Marketing Director: Jim Mueller Group Marketing Director: Ryan Pociask Agency: Droga5 NY Creative Chairman: David Droga Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer Group Creative Director: Scott Bell Senior Copywriter: Ryan Raab Senior Art Director: Dan Kenneally Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale Head of Broadcast Production: Ben Davies Executive Broadcast Producer: Jesse Brihn Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer Group Strategy Director: Aaron Wiggan Senior Strategist: Nick Maschmeyer Senior Strategist: Candice Chen Communications Strategy Director: Brian Nguyen Group Account Director: Dan Gonda Account Director: Chris Einhauser Account Manager: Kate Tyler Monroe Production Company (Live Action Shoot): Arts & Sciences Director: Matt Aselton DOP: Corey Walter Executive Producer: Marc Marrie Managing Director: Mal Ward Producer: Zoe Odlum Production Company (Food Shoot): Schrom Director: Michael Schrom DOP: Michael Schrom Executive Producer: Carl Sturges Production Supervisor: Andrew Greenberg Food Stylist: Rick Ellis Editorial: Mackenzie Cutler Editor (Family Favors, Misunderstood, Grandma): Ian Mackenzie Editor (Stay At Home Son): Nick Divers Assistant Editor: Mike Leuis Executive Producer: Sasha Hirschfeld Producer: Biz Lynskey Postproduction: The Mill Executive Producer: Jeremy Moore Producer: Andrew Hamill Lead Flame Artist: Ilia Mokhtareizadeh Flame Artist: Brandon Danowski Flame Artist: Emily Bloom Sound: Mackenzie Cutler Mixer: Sam Shaffer, Marc Healy

Brand Marketing

Ad of the Day: Droga5 Cooks Up a Hilariously Skewed Take on Family for Johnsonville

Going beyond grilling

Tim Nudd

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Tim Nudd