Ad of the Day: Kraft MilkBite Bars

Everyone likes talking-food mascots. They're so full of joy and spirit and love for life. But as it turns out, they're still quite likable—maybe more so—when they're full of worry, angst and existential dread. That's the case with Mel the MilkBite, the postmodern brand mascot created by Droga5 for Kraft's new MilkBite Milk & Granola Bars. Mel isn't your ordinary carefree literal embodiment of a product, confident in his identity and mission—a big jug of flavored drink mix, say, or a large colorful piece of candy. Like the MilkBites themselves, soft-spoken Mel is several things at once—part milk, part granola—and so he finds himself agonizing over his split identity. He's a tasty morsel stuck in a not-very-tasty existential crisis. And in Droga5's new campaign, he embarks on a journey from the refrigerated dairy case to the wider world, endeavoring to understand who he is—and what he's good for. The first spots (see below) are amusingly crafted. Mel struggles with his confidence on a blind date, fleeing an attractive woman despite her confession that she's "kind of into" his unique characteristics. He asks his parents whether they ever stopped to think, before they so carelessly combined their ingredients, about how difficult his life would be. And he annoys his fellow book-club members when he dares to identify with a similarly tortured soul from Russian literature. Mel could easily have started off on a therapist's couch, and perhaps that's where he'd be if this were a single-spot campign. But Droga5 is blowing it out into a much wider effort centered on Facebook, where video diaries, musings, photos and videos from Mel will be unveiled over the next few months, inviting consumers to join him on his journey of self-discovery. This isn't the first ad campaign with a mascot who's not wholeheartedly peppy. (Look at Knorr's Salty the salt shaker, created by DDB in Toronto, who's the Charlie Brown of advertising mascots—a pale, bald, lovable misfit.) But it's an interesting choice to use a conflicted character to pitch a possibly confusing product—to bake the confusion into the very mascot himself. In a world still full of cheery mascots, Mel certainly stands out. And with the nice animation and voice work, and the great little scripted vignettes, this is one sad story you might enjoy hearing for some time to come. CREDITS Client: Kraft Milkbite Milk & Granola Bars Agency: Droga5, New York Creative Chairman: David Droga Executive Creative Directors: Ted Royer, Nik Studzinski Head of Integrated Production: Sally-Ann Dale ACD, Copywriter: Scott Ginsberg ACD, Art Director: January Vernon Creative Director: Neil Heymann Interactive Producer: Jason Curtis Executive Producer: Scott Chinn Strategy: Tom Naughton Account Director: Whitney Radia Production Company: O Positive Director: David Shane Director of Photography: Eric Treml Executive Producer: Marc Grill Producer: Ken Licata Interactive Production Designers: Ben Grube, Malin Ekman Illustrator: Rich Greco Developer: Mikael Emtinger Art Director: Nick Schmidt Copywriter: David Ma Puppet Design and Fabrication: Jim Henson Creature Shop Executive Producer: Jason Seck Creative Supervisor: Jason Weber Puppet Builders: Anney Ozar, Jim Krupa Editorial: Mackenzie Cutler Editor: Gavin Cutler Assistant Editor: Nathan Rodgers-Hancock Executive Producer< Sasha Hirschfeld VFX, Postproduction: Spontaneous Lead Flame Artist, VFX Supervisor: Andy Milkis Creative Director: John Leamy Executive Producer: Chris Decker Music: Alan Wolpert Music Composer, Performer: Alan Wolpert Sound: Sound Lounge Mixer: Tom Jucarone

Brand Marketing

Ad of the Day: Kraft MilkBite Bars

Droga5 introduces the new hybrid product with an anxious brand mascot who doesn't know what he is

Tim Nudd

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Tim Nudd