KitchenAid Celebrates the Passion of the Everyday Cook in Lurpak-Like Ads

KitchenAid appliances help make cooking a joyous, transcendent experience in DigitasLBi’s latest campaign for the brand.

Tagged “Yours for the Making,” and powered by the uplifting gospel number “This Little Light of Mine,” ads display the depth and breath of KitchenAid offerings across 25 product categories. (And you thought they just made mixers.)

“My kitchen is more than a room,” a narrator says in the 30-second spot below, “and these are more than appliances. They are my tools, my escape, my freedom to go wherever my ambition takes me.”

“We’re trying to connect with people who cook because they want to, not because they have to,” client senior brand manager Christy Hoskins tells Adweek. “The insight at the heart of this new platform is that, for them, making a meal is about more than feeding their families—it’s about feeding their soul and fueling their passion.”

Hence the inclusion of Cristina Providencia Sanchez’s tasty take on “This Little Light,” and the use of evocative (at times spiritual) imagery, such as a shots of a woman opening the doors of her KitchenAid refrigerator, only to be bathed in a brilliant glow that seems to emanate some higher plane of existence. (Or from the bulb at the back of the fridge. Whichever.)

“We broke our own category’s rules to stand out by focusing on the beauty in the process of making food and the nuanced emotions that come with it,” Hoskins says, “not the perfect-looking kitchen or the flawless final results that shape the competitive landscape.”

That mission informs a bunch of shorter spots, which equate chopping veggies, flipping omelets and whipping cream with times of celebration:

Word to the wise: No matter how stoked you get about dessert, do not sprinkle confetti on your raspberries!

Overall, this is fun, effective work, even if other marketers have drawn from basically the same recipe—notably Lurpak, with its kitschy cosmic odyssey.

“From the intimate details of an egg floating in water, to a stunt man doing flips from a pier into the ocean, this shoot ran the gamut of challenges to get exciting, beautiful scenes,” says Laura Keeler, DigitasLBi group creative director.

“As excited as we were about capturing the emotion in ideas that took us out of the kitchen, the kitchen scenes were really important. We needed them to feel authentic so we cast real chefs so all their movements would feel natural. Even our choice for the food stylist was really important because we didn’t want to be about the perfect final dish, but wanted to bring the process to life.”

CREDITS
Client: KitchenAid
Agency: DigitasLBi
Chief Creative Officer: Ronald Ng
Managing Director: Morgan Carroll
EVP Group Creative Director: Mike Frease
SVP Creative Director: Laura Keeler
VP Creative Director: Bruno Guimaraes
Art Directors: Dylan Krenka, Guiga Cunha, Esteban Izquierdo, Jill Schneider
Copywriter: Sam Bordignon, Steve Horn, Ashley Staker
Executive Producer: Rob Tripas
SVP Group Account Director: Jessica Henrichs
VP Account Director: Kristine Kobe
Account Director: Julia Low
Account Manager: Katie Meyer
Head of Creative Strategy: David Chriswick
SVP Group Director, Creative Strategy: Jenny Hall
VP Director, Creative Strategy: Stephanie Kelly
Associate Director, Creative Strategy: Jen Burkey
Associate, Creative Strategy: Ana Hauser
VP Group Director, Brand Experience & Social Strategy: Justin Newby
VP Director, Social Strategy, Rachel Givens
Associate Director, Social Strategy: Rachel Datz
Manager, Social Strategy: Maggie Cooney
Senior Associate, Social Strategy: Allison Guerra
Senior Associate, Social Strategy: Anna Fatlowitz
Manager, Brand Experience: Jenna Llewellyn
VP Director, Project Management: Christa Arite
Manager, Project Management: Amanda Stern
Photographer/Designer: Anna Palma
Print Executive Producer:Lisa Oropallo
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Hoffman / Metoyer
Executive producer: Suza Horvat
Editing House: Whitehouse Post
Editor: Matthew Wood
Music House: Genuine Music
Sound Design: Another Country
VP Group Director, Media: Katie Schnepf
VP Director, Media: Ryan Shaw
Associate Director, Media: Ryanne Donnellon
Media Planner: Neva Sanfilippo
Supervisor, Paid Social Media: Madeline Howd