So here’s a rather clever one from Foster Farms, having taken an idea from another successful viral ad and adapted it for their own message.



If you haven’t seen it before, the Dove “Transformation” ad this clip is based on is worth a watch.



The ad communicates Foster Farms’ unique selling position (“no extra hormones or steroids, guaranteed”), and due to its inter-textuality (to draw on a pretentious word from my undergrad) the ad is pretty funny. It’s also possible that I like it so much because it connects models with chickens (I’m not going to attempt to explain this).

Interestingly though a clip that’s been watched way more than this ad on YouTube is a protest video that was snuck out of Foster Farms about the mistreatment of their chickens and their workers. The “transformation” ad has been viewed a couple of hundred times while the protest video has been viewed 11,396 times.

Some brief reading on the subject leads me to believe that there is a certain amount of controversy surrounding the farms – especially given the “we take care of our chickens” angle of their advertising, which (if the allegations are true) is a direct contradiction.

Taking this angle in their ads is dangerous if they cannot, in fact, live up to their promise. Chicken farming and the correct treatment of chickens is a controversial area – not one I’m an expert in – but I do know that clever advertising won’t cut it if it isn’t based on something real.