Throwback Thursday: Giant Spoon’s Jon Haber on cheese and dogs
Instead of talking about famous campaigns from big brands, Jon Haber, co-founder of Giant Spoon, shares two commercials that have never left his mind.
Instead of talking about famous campaigns from big brands, Jon Haber, co-founder of Giant Spoon, shares two commercials that have never left his mind.
Instead of talking about famous campaigns from big brands, Jon Haber, co-founder of Giant Spoon, shares two commercials that have never left his mind.
In our Throwback Thursday this week, Jon Haber, co-founder of Giant Spoon, reminisces two commercials that he saw in his childhood and can never forget.
If you remember the line “I can totally afford all this cheese,” you know that it comes from a California Lottery commercial a few years back.
The ad features a lottery winner walking into a cheese aisle at a supermarket. When he looks around the aisle, the camera zooms in on the piles of cheese to show their freshness. Then the voiceover says “I can totally afford all this cheese!”
“The focus on cheese may sound silly. But California Lottery’s commercial smartly makes a normal good memorable, creating an experience that we all experienced before,” explains Haber.
“Now every time when I go to a cheese store, I cannot help thinking how much all the cheese would cost. If I have all the money like the man in the California Lottery’s commercial, I would be able to buy all the cheese!” he adds.
Haber’s second favorite ad of all time is a puppy commercial from pet food brand Iams. The ad delivers a message that Iams offers the right food for dogs at every stage, by showing how life changes with age.
It features a puppy named Casey and a little girl staying at the bottom of an outdoor staircase that is going up to a big hill. As the girl and the puppy are climbing the stairs, the girl is turning into a 12-year old and the puppy is becoming a dog. As time goes by, the girl is growing into a teenager and the dog is a little older. By the time when they are at the top of the stairs, the girl is already a college student and the puppy is an old dog struggling to climb up.
This commercial tugs Haber’s heartstrings because grew up with golden retrievers, he went through the same thing.
“The cool thing about a commercial like this is that it can pull something out of your life. It’s so true and emotional,” he says.
Last year, Iams did a modern remake of this 90’s hit “Casey,” strategically telling a story about the relationship of dogs and human.
California Lottery’s and Iams’ commercials are memorable because they create emotions and speak to the universal humanistic experiences that viewers can relate to.
“They tell good stories and feel real to people. Both ads deliver really simple yet unexpected insights. That’s why they stuck with me,” says Haber.