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SPOILER ALERT! WATCH THE VIDEO BEFORE READING FURTHER! Okay, either you’ve watched and enjoyed the video, or you don’t take direction well. It’s out of my hands and you’re on your own. First, let me confess that, at 65, I am firmly in the target demographic for this product, although anyone who knows me will tell you that it’s the solution to a problem I haven’t got… well, yet anyway.

When I first saw this little gem it had a little over 100,000 views. As I’m writing this, two weeks later, it’s well over a half million and climbing, and I have no idea where that number might be when you’re reading this. The thing speaks to my generation. Who better to sell us on “magic” brownies than Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong? We Baby Boomers grew up watching them doing exactly that. Now, with the magic coming from fiber instead of pot (I did give a spoiler alert) the pitch is right in our generational wheelhouse. Props to whomever came up with the concept.

This campaign is based entirely on social media, and more than one person has commented to me that this may be limiting its reach. They base this on the assumption that exposure to digital media decreases with age, while the need for dietary fiber increases. True, perhaps, but a campaign featuring Cheech & Chong is meant to target Baby Boomers, who are by definition 65 and younger, not the truly geriatric crowd. My wife’s 91-year-old mother-in-law might actually recognize Cheech from Nash Bridges, but Chong would be a mystery. No, I think they have the right message, the right messengers, and the right medium.

BOB MATTSON IS THE CO-FOUNDING PARTNER, EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR AND SENIOR COPYWRITER AT SMM ADVERTISING.

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Every once in a while you come across an ad campaign that just “works.” This one, for General Mills’ Fiber One Brownies, starring a reunited Cheech (Marin) and (Tommy) Chong, certainly qualifies.

In the digital-only campaign (via Publicis Modem; promoted exclusively on Facebook, Twitter, and Yahoo’s boomer-centric “Vitality” web page) we see what appears to be a trailer for a new Cheech and Chong flick called “Magic Brownie Adventure.” In it, the high-namic duo attempts to deliver thousands of “magic brownies” to a desert concert festival—only to find that the weed that made the brownies “magic” isn’t pot, it’s fiber. It’s a great twist that delivers a dead-on marketing message while still managing to feel authentic and earnest in its execution (which is to say that it is very funny).

What I love most about this campaign is that it actually exists. General Mills (Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Bisquick, etc.), isn’t exactly known for its edgy creative work. Their agency, Modem, had to compete for ad dollars squirreled away in a special non-earmarked project fund called “Bold Experiments.” Modem was proactive enough to present it, and General Mills was gutsy enough to run it—the right way, with all the East LA stoner humor still intact. Anything less would have felt, much to the detriment of the Magic Brownie campaign, a little half-baked.

DAVE ROGAN IS A CREATIVE DIRECTOR AT SMM AND FREQUENTLY IGNORES DROP-DEAD DEADLINE REQUESTS BY REPRISING THE CHEECH AND CHONG “DAVE’S NOT HERE” BIT.

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Tommy Chong has six children: Robbi, Rae Dawn, Paris, Gilbran, Precious, and the adopted Marcus (must have gotten him after he was already named). Cheech has also made as many films with Director Robert Rodriguez (seven) as he has with Tommy.

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We take a fun, fresh and creative approach to advertising. Call Jen at: 631-265-5160, or email: jschmitt@smmadvertising.com
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