Mustard Merchants Grey Poupon have recently relaunched their famous “Pardon Me” campaign.
The new ad features a new take on the original “Pardon Me” spot from 1981 and debuted last Sunday during the Academy Awards. The main goal of the campaign has been to establish Grey Poupon’s positioning as a brand for high class people with good taste.
The ad is also meant to appeal to fans of a certain character known for his good taste. This years Oscars celebrated the 50th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise. The Rolls Royce’s in the ad are decked out with gadgets and weapons (such as a caviar oil slick) that resemble a car that would have been designed for Bond.
The two minute long spot has created a significant amount of buzz in the social media realm. According to Networked Insights, the brand received four times its usual social media conversations following the airing of the new spot. Speaking of social media, the brand’s Facebook page takes its positioning to the extreme. One must qualify to be a fan of the brand of mustard based on their “good taste”. After applying for a “membership” in their “Society of Good Taste”, an algorithm searches a user’s page for proper grammar and preference for art and literature in order decide if a user is classy enough for a membership. Grey Poupon also utilizes Pinterest as its primary website.
The “Pardon Me” campaign has been essential to Grey Poupon’s branding over the last three decades. The Big Idea is that Grey Poupon is consumed by those who have good taste in condiments because they have good taste in general. Is the advertising overly arrogant? Possibly. Has it been monumental to the success of Grey Poupon? “But of course”.
Check out the “Lost Footage” spot below.
Here is the original 1981 spot.
I saw the ad during the Academy awards and I figured it had some kind of historical significance. It’s cool that the original ad is still so notable. The new ad was definitely a good idea and a great use of the situation.