In today’s society, advertisements are everywhere. In fact, it’s estimated that we encounter over 5,000 marketing messages every single day, ranging from blatant billboards down to the labels on a passerby’s clothing. And while the over-stimulation of our consumer culture is a major hot topic, we’ll save that for another day. For now, we want to take a closer look at cheesy ads. We don’t mean the corny commercials that prey on your vulnerable emotions in-between each TV show cliffhanger. We mean actual cheese ads, such as this recent campaign from Finlandia Cheese:
Photo Credit: Image courtesy of finlandiacheese.com
Truly, a cheese brand has never seemed so majestic. This grandiose display connotes a long history of time-tested cheese making, despite Finlandia’s comparatively short 60 years as a company. In a smart marketing move, this cheesy advertisement makes the consumer feel like Finlandia’s bounty is fit for a king, and is ripe with glory and riches.
While Finlandia Cheese claims to reign supreme on earth, Kraft has set its sights a little bit higher when it comes to advertising Philadelphia cream cheese. In 1994, the company released a commercial campaign featuring angels who couldn’t resist the temptation of heavenly cream cheese. The adverts were such a success that they were replicated for international audiences throughout Europe, Latin America, and Asia, and often featured regional celebrities cast as the angels enjoying their “Little Taste of Heaven” moment.
Photo Credit: Image courtesy of theinspirationroom.com
Some advertising agencies clearly decided to take cheese commercials to new heights, while others preferred to stay on the more familiar fromage home turf. As the stereotype goes, cheese and mice always go together, and LowLow Cheese used that fun fairytale to their advantage. As the advertisement suggests, LowLow’s matured cheeses are so good that a mouse would risk it all just to get some, even when faced with a minefield of traps.
Photo Credit: Image courtesy of coloribus.com
It might come as a surprise to discover that mice don’t actually love cheese as much as we think they do! Despite this crushing reality, you can never go wrong with the classic “mice and cheese” stand-by, and it remains a prevalent motif in cheese advertising. Spiders and cheese, however, are a less commonly used pairing. In an advertisement released by Entremont Cheese, sticky and gooey melted cheese has been crafted into a dangerous web, quite like that of a stealthy spider.
Photo Credit: Image courtesy of adverbox.com
Most of us would probably agree that being ensnared in a spider’s web would be nightmarish; the same can’t be said for being mummified in cheese, which is a common daydream among cheese lovers. When it comes to enjoying the flavors of cheese, we’re not afraid of any fate. Whether the victim or the cheese-attacker, this clever Cheez-It ad appealed to our hunger and had us saying, “All the better to eat you with, my dear!”
Photo Credit: Image courtesy of mariacamarata.wordpress.com
Emily Dangler
Culture Intern Emily Dangler is a creative writer and travel enthusiast, who is always looking for a good story to tell. Originally a West Coast girl, Emily has spent several years migrating across the country and is currently an adopted resident of Boston, where she is enjoying the city's delicious food and rich history.
