The characters in new ads for Daiya are clearly distressed—the evidence is written all over their tear-stained faces in videos that look like scenes from classic film noir.
The source of their trauma? Life without cheese, which leads to dry toast instead of gooey grilled cheese sandwiches and plain chips instead of melty nachos.
Oh, the agony.
To be clear, no one associated with the campaign is claiming this problem is on par with 2022’s broader global or social issues. But agency of record TDA Boulder decided to lighten the mood, taking a comically exaggerated approach in its latest work for the plant-based brand.
“We wanted to greatly dramatize the pain,” Jonathan Schoenberg, executive creative director and partner, told Adweek. “It’s hard as hell to miss out on cheese, but making it so tragic is a nice way to drive it home in an over-the-top way that is fun. We hope it’s not polarizing.”
Daiya, a Canadian brand that launched in 2008, is part of a burgeoning non-dairy category in which separating from the pack has become more essential—and more difficult—than ever before.
For “Taste the Daiya Difference,” creatives focused on lapsed consumers—those plant-based food fans who want cheese alternatives but have been so disappointed in the offerings that they no longer buy them. The category has historically trailed behind its dairy counterparts in taste and texture, according to myriad product reviews over the years.
Daiya wanted to “wake up loyalists who have given up on plant-based cheese,” Schoenberg said.
The audience is in limbo, in effect, “committed to plant-based food but uncommitted” to a particular cheese substitute, according to Paul Siegel, TDA Boulder’s director of brand services. “They haven’t yet found a cheese that works for them, and that creates an opportunity for Daiya.”
Artistic and dairy-free
Along with the message, which focuses on craveable and indulgent dishes, the agency leaned into a unique method of communicating it.
Using the “silent expressive drama” of film noir may serve a few purposes, creatives said, including potentially stopping people in their tracks as they scroll their social media feeds. Even without sound, the 30-second spots jump out because of their slow-motion, black-and-white intros and close-ups of tormented (and hungry) folks.
A cinematic approach is also a departure for the category, which often focuses on product attributes or price promos.
TDA Boulder continues to draw from consumer insights for its campaigns, following up on a fall 2020 effort called “Enjoy the Unexpected.” That work implicitly acknowledged that fake cheese products of the past have ranged from largely disappointing to downright unappetizing.
The current glut in the category is “a good thing for consumer adoption,” Schoenberg said, but makes it incumbent on brands to “give consumers more love, more personality.”
The ads for Daiya, which has recently been reformulated, will air on connected TV like Hulu and via digital and social platforms. Influencer programs will support the campaign, as will shopper marketing and in-store activity that calls out the new recipe.
CREDITS:
Client: Daiya Foods Inc.
Campaign Title: Taste the Daiya Difference
Agency: TDA Boulder
Agency Location: Boulder, CO
Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Schoenberg
Creative Director: Jeremy Seibold
Associate Creative Director: Mia Nogueira
Copywriter: Kyle Rathod
Executive Producer: Dennis Di Salvo
Brand Supervisor: Layne Iafrati
Production Company: Hobnob
Director: Iain MacKenzie
Executive Producer: Jonathon Ker
Producer: Chris Crawford
Editorial Company: Charlie Uniform Tango (Austin)
Editor: John Bradley
Executive Producer: Keith Munley
