I can totally see a case when a mother and her child are waiting in a doctor’s office, and then the mother looking over in horror as she sees her child liking a magazine that’s probably already been licked by 10 other sick kiddos.
Madison Avenue thinks a tasty approach will give new life to Welch’s grape juice.
Welch’s is taking out full-page print ads in People magazine this month that give readers a chance to sample its grape juice by licking the ad. The front of the advertisement shows a huge bottle of the juice, while the back has a strip that peels up and off, with text that reads: “For a TASTY fact, remove & LICK.”
But have no fear, the marketers have already thought ahead . . .
Marketers are excited about the prospects for lickable ads, but also have to deal with the “ick” factor. Since magazines are often passed from reader to reader (think doctors’ offices) there is a good chance that saliva could be left on the ad. Readers are supposed to peel off the entire sticker on the Welch’s ad before licking, says First Flavor, the company that developed the technology used in the ad. If someone doesn’t rip off the whole sticker, First Flavor says, the flap can’t reseal, giving people an easy way to know whether the ad has already been licked.
It’s nice to know that print copies of Hustler will still be able to compete with the online version for some time to come. Until lickable monitors of course.
As the president of First Flavor http://www.FirstFlavor.com, the company bringing this Peel ‘n Taste product to market, there is a major correction to the WSJ article: This is not about Lickable Ads. Welch’s used the term ‘lick’ in their ad and no one seems to have bothered to read the fine print.
Our product, which can be attached to a print ad and peeled off, is a sealed tamper evident foil pouch containing a piece of edible film. (Similar to popular breath strips.) One peels opens the pouch and places the piece of edible film on your tongue. The edible film dissolves quickly leaving you with a burst of flavor. No licking involved!
The point that was really missed was that finally consumers now have a way of trying the taste of a product before they buy it. We call it taking a product for a ‘Taste Drive’!
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