Attention, Aldi's shoppers: Do not be alarmed. The big man with a megaphone is harmless. We think.
Comedian and TV host Ben Bailey trades in his cash cab for a grocery cart and goofs around with Aldi customers in this web video series created by Weber Shandwick for the discount supermarket chain.
The company plans to launch 45 stores in Southern California next year, and the campaign will "help introduce Aldi's unique and quirky ways to new markets and neighborhoods," says Weber executive creative director Jim Paul.
Under normal circumstances, those quirks don't include Bailey, armed here with an amplifier and whirling police light, accosting shoppers with questions (mostly, he asks what they like about the store). Still, it's all in good fun. The dude's down-to-earth, regular-guy persona feels right for a chain that charges folks to use its carts and makes them bag their own groceries in order to keep prices down.
Bailey, the former host of Discovery Channel's Cash Cab, shot the hidden-camera spots in April at a Chicago-area store. "People were quick to call out their favorite products and how much money they save each month," he says. Indeed, the customers seem to be having a great time. For them, it was a change of pace from the dairy-case doldrums, no doubt. And, as advertising, the approach offers something a bit unexpected for the category (unexpected, though not supergeil).
A special shout-out goes to an elderly shopper named Herb, who basically steals the show with his high spirits, good-natured kibitzing and quips like, "Ben Bailey?! Never heard of you."
Herb will have you rolling in the aisles.
CREDITS
Client: Aldi
Director of Public Relations: Liz Ruggles
Marketing Manager: Erika Lempa
Agency: Weber Shandwick
Executive Creative Director: Jim Paul
SVP, Creative Director: Jeff Immel
VP, Creative Director: Dan Jividen
Copywriter: Mikinzie Stuart
VP, Executive Integrated Producer: Kim Mohan
Producer: Karen Carter
EVP: Allison Madell
SVP: Katy Pankau
SVP, Digital: Jonathan Sullivan
VP: Eniko Bolivar
VP: Emily Fisher
VP, Consumer Media Relations: Ernestine Sclafani
Director, Senior Media Specialist: Jennifer Parsons
Director, Digital: Nick Wille
Group Manager, Paid Media & Content Distribution: Allie Smith
Group Manager, Media Specialist: Alan Keane
Account Supervisor: Kristen Thompson
Account Supervisor: Caitlyn Andre
Account Supervisor: Carolina Madrid
Production Company: Accomplice Media
Director: Tom Feiler
Executive Producer: Mel Gragido
Editor: Christina Stumpf
Post Production Company: Quriosity Productions
Sound Design & Mix: Joe Flood, Floodgate Studios