Last night, I happened on the new spot for Healthy Choice frozen entrees, in which Julie Louis-Dreyfus is approached to be the new spokeswoman for the product -- which she turns down with a sneer of disgust. You can watch the spot (plus some longer "director's cut" versions) here
At the time, I didn't know this spot was created by director Christopher Guest
, but all the hallmarks of his films (including "Waiting for Guffman" and "A Mighty Wind"): naturalistic acting, understated humor, and comedic actors who can improv with the best of them.
Despite the inevitable hyping of the product (done about as unobtrusively as possible), when the spot ended with Julia's flat-out dismissal of the offer, I thought maybe, just maybe, someone actually came up a new spin on old "anti-spokesperson" idea. Maybe this wasn't the first in an ongoing campaign, but a one-shot spot, that Ms. Louis-Dreyfus wouldn't be appearing again and again as she "doth protest too much" about pitching the product.
Now that would be different.
But no. According to the NY Times
, this is just the first of a series of commercials, including this upcoming one, that falls back into the most unexpected of conclusions:
In one commercial, for example, Ms. Louis-Dreyfus is reluctant to try a meal but declares after a few bites, “This Healthy Choice stuff has changed."
Maybe Healthy Choice has changed, but it's just the same old "anti-spokesperson" spot.
Labels: Commercials, Creativity, Entertainment, Marketing