Oakbrook Terrace-based sweets giant Ferrara Candy Company is making its Super Bowl debut with a “weirdly awesome” 30-second ad that will air in the Chicago market during Sunday’s big game.
The droll commercial for Sour Brite Crawlers — a popular gummy worm-type product from Ferrara’s Trolli brand — has a heavy “Napoleon Dynamite” vibe. It features a cute little misfit kid with a mop of curly red hair who builds a pet dog — his best friend — out of Sour Brite Crawlers. While playing fetch with his fake puppy, a disaffected teenager meanders by, casually yanks off the dog’s head and takes a bite. “Mmmm, your best friend is delicious,” remarks the awkward, ginger-haired teen.
The message here — and no offense, red heads — is that weirdness can be awesome. It’s the cornerstone of Trolli’s creative campaign that goes beyond the “Best Friend Ever” TV commercial with a dedicated Tumblr at www.weirdlyawesome.com. Gummi Dog ranked as the top mobile ad on Tumblr when Trolli unleashed it in September. It was nominated for the best #WTF GIF in the first-ever Gifys.
“Best Friend Ever” is one of a trio of TV spots in the Weirdly Awesome campaign slated to air nationwide starting in April. Viewers in the Chicago region, Wisconsin and Indiana will get an early taste Sunday.
“As a Chicago-based company, we wanted to give the local market a sneak peek … and felt that making the debut during one of the most highly watched television events of the year was the perfect time,” Ferrara’s vice president of marketing, Melinda Lewis, said in a written statement.
Check out the ad below. Do you think it’s weird? Awesome? Or both?
Want to watch more? Check out our always-expanding Super Bowl ads blog post with videos.
— Lori Rackl, TV Critic
