Wheat Thins has a sense of humor.
Stephen Colbert famously mocked, on the air, the exhaustive memo he had gotten from Nabisco detailing exactly how Wheat Thins should be presented on his Comedy Central show—the centerpiece of a long comedy routine in which he was forced to read an "apology" with a lawyer standing behind him at the end. And Wheat Thins told Adweek they couldn't have been happier with the segment.
Of course, they make amusing ads, too—including the Family Guy spot.
Now, the Nabisco brand is really going for broke with a pair of extremely funny spots that wouldn't look out of place on one of the nuttier web comedy sites.
The suburban husband guarding his cache from Ted next door and a huge, hairy, non-Bigfoot monster ("Honey, I was close! It's a yeti!") is really great. But the traumatized puppet takes the gold.
"You can't eat Wheat Thins, John," the doctor explains gently. "You're a puppet, and nothing's going to change that."
I know, dude. I'd go nuts, too.
Both ads, from Being NY, are well directed and cast to perfection. But the writing is what makes both shine—so, good on whichever copywriter is getting to stretch his or her wings here. Also, that puppet looks really, really sad in the shot that establishes his depressed self in "Puppet." Poor bastard.
Someday, my friend, the blue fairy will come to help you out. In the meantime, listen to crickets, and for heaven's sake stay away from carnivals and whales.
CREDITS
Client: Wheat Thins
Agency: Being NY
