Eleven hours ago, Oreo and Kraft stepped into the second most polarizing political debate in the country with this post on Facebook.
As a company that supports diversity, gay rights and marriage equality, we’re thrilled.
As marketers, we’re surprised.
Kraft, Oreo’s corporate parent, is about as mass as a mass marketer can get. Coming out in support of a divisive issue like this will generate a lot of animosity from a significant portion of the population.
We can almost guarantee there will be boycotts of Kraft products announced by groups like Focus on the Family and denouncements of the company in sermons at pulpits across the country in the coming weeks.
By coming out so boldly in favor of a position that many people find abhorrent, they are putting a significant part of their business at risk.
Knowing Kraft, we are sure they didn’t do this without doing their research. And we’d be surprised if this ad wasn’t approved at the highest levels of the corporation.
As the conversation builds around this post, one thing’s for sure – it clearly demonstrates how powerful advertising can be.
And for that I applaud Kraft and Draft/FCB, the agency behind this ad.