'Fruit Guys' Habla Español In Grupo Gallegos Spots Fruit of the Loom

Fruit of the Loom today introduces Hispanic versions of its "fruit guys" in the brand's first U.S. Hispanic ad campaign.In the Spanish-language effort, from Grupo Gallegos in Long Beach, Calif., the fruit guys take the form of an apple, leaves and red and green grapes as in the client's general- market campaign, but they are played by actors of Mexican, Caribbean and Argentinean descent, said account director Montse Barrena."SWAT Team," which touts men's underwear, shows the guys on a covert mission to ensure that everyone has Fruit of the Loom. They replace underwear in dryers at a Laundromat and on mannequins in a department store. In one scene, the apple is lowered on a harness so he can switch undergarments hanging on a clothesline. The other 30-second spot, for women's underwear, has the characters watching an ad in which they expect to play a prominent role. They realize that beautiful models wearing Fruit of the Loom have stolen the limelight, and they have only a minor appearance, salsa dancing in the background."The Hispanic audience in the United States keeps growing, and we want to build awareness of Fruit of the Loom among Hispanic consumers at a national level," Barrena said. "We're trying to communicate not only the comfort level of Fruit of the Loom but the attractive, sexy feeling you can get from wearing Fruit of the Loom underwear."The ad is similar to one created by the client's general-market agency, The Richards Group in Dallas. It shows the spokescharacters acknowledging their demotion to a ceremonial role as models stroll by wearing Fruit of the Loom.Richards reintroduced the fruit guys a year ago. They first appeared in the 1970s in ads from Grey.The Spanish-language spots show a variety of colors and styles of undergarments in an effort to change the perception of what Fruit of the Loom offers, said Barrena. "It's cool, hip underwear, whether it's for men or women—they aren't just about basic whites," she said.The campaign for the Bowling Green, Ky.-based apparel company is tagged, "Un buen día empieza con Fruit of the Loom," similar to the general-market tagline, "Good days start with Fruit of the Loom."The campaign, which includes reminders about Fruit of the Loom's girls' and boys' underwear, targets men and women who "care about the way they look and feel good about being sexy," said Barrena.She noted that Hispanic women influence almost half of men's underwear purchases.The Hispanic market represents a "huge opportunity," said John Gallegos, shop principal. "Besides having larger families and bigger household units, [the brand] is distributed where a lot of Hispanics shop," such as mass merchants like Wal-Mart and Kmart.The TV spots will run through mid-December on Spanish-language networks Univision, Telemundo, TeleFutura and Galavision.Spending was undisclosed. Fruit of the Loom, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha, Neb., spent more than $20 million on advertising in 2002, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.Grupo Gallegos picked up Hispanic ad duties for Fruit of the Loom in early June without a review, following introductions by The Richards Group [Adweek online, June 2].Richards principal Stan Richards has a stake in Grupo Gallegos.Representatives for Fruit of the Loom could not be reached.

Brand Marketing

'Fruit Guys' Habla Español In Grupo Gallegos Spots Fruit of the Loom

Rebecca Flass

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Rebecca Flass