The trusted Gorton’s fisherman has a new crew of mates onboard for the frozen seafood brand’s latest television advertising campaign in the USA. Among them is a well-chiseled actor portraying Poseidon, the Greek God of the Sea, and a couple of fitness gun-go “mer-bro” surfer dudes donning fishtails instead of legs. There’s also a desert island castaway type.
What all of the humorous characters have in common are hardy appetites and appreciation for Gorton’s fish sticks, fillets and other frozen seafood marketed by the Gloucester, Massachusetts-based subsidiary of Nippon Suisan Kaisha of Japan.
“You know Mer-Bros aren’t born with this physique,” says muscle-flexing Mer-Bro Chad in one of the spots. “We still have to do a lot of pull-ups and eat right. We only trust the Gorton’s fisherman for easy protein, with nothing weird added.”
Ever in awe of the iconic Gorton’s fisherman, Poseidon says: “You see the type of work he does, consistently. He’s the man. He’s the guy I look up to…for keeping preservatives and artificial stuff out of fish sticks that are made with wild-caught Alaska pollock.”
“What we liked about this year’s campaign was how Connelly Partners represented our brand heritage – the food, color, fisherman, and of course, the jingle – while adding a fresh, modern and fun feel,” said Chris Hussey, Gorton’s vice president of marketing.
The commercials were shot on White Point Beach in San Pedro, California, under the direction of Hungry Man’s Conor Byrne.
Birds Eye Pulls Ad in UK
As there was no cold water swimming involved in the shoot, Gorton’s should fare better with its new wave of frozen seafood TV commercials than did Birds Eye in the UK, which recently pulled a fish finger advertising spot from the screen following complaints from a water safety group founded by a mother who lost a 14-year-old son to cold water shock in a river several years ago.
Her organization was upset with the scene in which a man and boy leap off a boat into the sea with a voiceover declaring: “Captain Birds Eye loves the simple things, like jumping into cold water on a hot day with his grandson.”
Soon after being contacted by the campaign group, known as Dying to be Cool, a Birds Eye spokesman commented: “We take our advertising responsibilities very seriously and we were grateful to be made aware of this issue. We have taken the current advert off air. We are now amending the voiceover to remove references to the temperature of the water and weather. As a family brand, we decided to take swift action and wish campaigners every success in highlighting this important issue.”
