sMOKIN hOT

 

For someone that used to break a sweat at just the smallest taste of a mild dish, I’ve indisputably learnt to eat hot food. I don’t believe that eating hot food is an innate talent and only for the gifted, but that you can teach your buds to adore it.

I did.

Now I live off hot food. Chill poppers, Khao Phad and nachos with a spicy sauce are a few of my preferred dishes. My favorite is Tabasco. No matter what the juncture, you’ll always find me drinking a Virgin Mary.

Bloody Mary without the vodka.

So, when I came across this ad campaign, I laughed and made a quick copy paste.

I don’t like it.

I don’t feel that the ad has done Tabasco justice. One can understand where they were trying to head with the concept, but was there clear insight into this ad? Did they pull it off?

Tabasco is hot. We get it. You put it on your food, you put it in your mouth and you tongue feels the heightened sting. You love it. You eat more. You clean your plate and wash it down with a beer.

So what is the ad trying to sell?

A garlic-pepper Tabasco sauce.

First off, the visual is poor. A person looking fairly pleased, blowing smoke out of their mouth or nose. What I question is the similarity between Tabaco smoke and this over exaggerated Tabasco smoke. The smoke looks the same.

The first thing I think is that someone’s trying to sell cigarettes. How is that doing any good for Tabasco sauce?  Apart from that, would you really want to blow a ‘garlic-pepper’ smell into everyone’s face? I’d rather waste my money on ten packs of gum before considering that.

The ad also lacks tact, I mean yes Tabasco is hot, but that’s not to say that individuals who purchase the product do so for that reason. Maybe some do, but most would certainly buy this product for its flavor. It’s not the only reason why Tabasco offers different flavours. So when I see smoke coming out of the nose and mouth, I instantly think that it’s very hot Tabasco. I won’t buy it.

I would have honestly reconsidered my insight into what I was trying to say, and come up with not just a pretty looking picture, but something that makes the consumer want to know more about the product. This just isn’t enough.