A planned 60-second television commercial scheduled for Super Bowl LIII to promote Devour, a Kraft Heinz frozen food retail brand distributed in North America, has reportedly been edited to 30 seconds because the word “porn” can not be said in Super Bowl advertisements. But that hasn’t stopped the company from featuring the uncensored version on its website, as well as uploading it on YouTube and other platforms.
No doubt paring down the spot in the cutting room saved the Kraft Heinz millions of dollars, when one consider that commercials running 30 seconds cost north of $5 million. One can only imagine what Audi is paying for the 60-second spot that it will air in the second quarter of the “Big Game” pitting the New England Patriots against the Los Angeles Rams.
With over 184 million #foodporn tags on Instagram to date, the movement of sharing melted cheese pulls, elaborate table spreads, and overflowing bowls of pasta has reached a new height on social media. Devour says it “plays into this obsession with mouthwatering food by dialing up the taste and maxing out the flavor in every bite, with tender meats, creamy sauces, crispy crusts and gooey cheeses.”
For the record, food porn is defined by Wikipedia as “the glamorized visual presentation of cooking or eating in advertisements, infomercials, blogs cooking shows or other visual media. These may be foods of a high fat and calorie content, or exotic dishes that arouse a desire to eat or the glorification of food as a substitute for sex.”
Since its launch in 2016, the Devour brand says it has shaken up “the traditionally bland and boring frozen meals category by taking an unapologetic stand for its craveable frozen foods.”
Now, it aims to take the same bold approach to the Super Bowl television audience of well more than 100 million viewers with an unconventional and provocative commercial that will air during the third quarter of the NFL championship football game on February 3.
Devour brand’s first-ever Super Bowl spot tells the story of a girlfriend who is struggling with her boyfriend’s insatiable addiction to so-called “frozen food porn.” He can’t stop watching, eating, and at one point even smelling Devour meals at home, in the office, and perhaps most memorably, in his garage. She tries several tactics to entice him away from the food, making him a homemade meal and even watching amateur food porn videos, but her efforts are fruitless.
“Devour is known for its bold and unapologetic point of view, and we knew our first Super Bowl spot had to be just that,” said Katy Marshall, marketing lead for Springboard, a new platform dedicated to nurturing, scaling, and accelerating growth of disruptive food brands. “Some may say our new commercial is too hot for TV. We’ll let the audience decide.”
The company is partnering with Barstool Sports to launch the Devour RV, a man cave on wheels for Barstool personalities to take on the road to Atlanta. The brand will be sponsoring Barstool’s social media and podcast content on the road featuring Barstool’s Big Cat, PFT Commenter, Rone and Kate. It is also giving 15 lucky fans a chance to win a Devour freezer and a year’s supply of frozen meals through its first ever sweepstakes. One grand prize winner will receive the Ultimate Man Cave, which also includes a year’s supply of Devour ready meals.
Devour originally launched with its “Food You Want to Fork” campaign, which put a provocative spin on its line of meals. The products come in 15 varieties, such as Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese and Loaded Potatoes with Angus Beef & Bacon. Last year, the brand partnered with Deadpool 2 to release its new line of premium frozen sandwiches, and also launched a line of instant bowls that are shelf stable.
