Intro
"We wait for our cheese to fully mature". The Cheez-It square cracker is roughly 1.00 by .95 inches. The cracker is made up of enriched flour, vegetable oil, sharp cheddar cheese, skim milk, salt, paprika, yeast, paprika oleoresin for color, and soy lecithin. Cheez-It's are actually considered Kosher. Cheddar cheese is usually matured or aged for 2-5+ years in a cellar or refrigerator set to 52-55 degrees Fahrenheit. After the cheese is fully matured or aged it is then flattened and made into squares and backed not fried. Then you have a delicious tasting cheese cracker. Cheez-Its maturity tests use human levels of maturity as a metaphor in order to convince the consumers of their high quality ingredients, distinguishing them from other baked cheese cracker products.
Background
The Sunshine Biscuit Company was purchased by Keebler in 1996. Then Keebler was bought by Kellogg's in 2000. The Sunshine Biscuit Company is know for cookies, crackers, and cereals. One of Sunshine Biscuits more famous product is the Cheez-It. Cheez-It crackers have been around since 1921 when it was first produced by the green and green company. But like stated before it has been bought by Kellogg's. They have recently started a marketing campaign through commercial ads on T.V. Kellogg's has supported this new ad campaign full heartily. They have upped the budget by 22% 33 million dollars over the past year. Cheez-It sales have rose 4.4% to 340.5 million dollars in the 52 weeks ended March 21. This is not counting Wal-Mart sales. The advertising agency that made these commercials is called Leo Burnett. They are known for a lot of food and snack commercials, also they do some clothing and shampoo commercial ads.
Audience
These Cheez-It ads are appealing to all ages. People from ages 5 to 85 think these commercials are funny and appealing. The Kellogg's company is trying to real in people by saying that the cheese used to make Cheez-Its is matured before they use it to make a cracker. Using humor makes the audience laugh but is also giving real facts about the product. Leo Burnett does a great job at making these ads funny and yet very informational. By using a doctors office, cheese wheel, and a pretend doctor they are making the meaning of the commercials funny yet serious. This makes it easier to target a wide range of age groups.
About the Commercials
The Kellogg's company made the Cheez-It commercials funny with a little bit of a serious twist. The commercial takes place in a doctors office with a cheese wheel and a doctor who evaluates the cheese wheel. The background of these commercials are very plain. They are really focused on people seeing the Cheez-It logo in the back and the orange cheese wheel sitting on the table. The questions asked to the cheese wheels are normally either funny questions or serious questions, it really depends on the cheese wheel. In the commercials some of the cheese wheels are ready and some of the cheese wheels are not. The doctor asks the cheese wheel some questions or just analyzes the cheese wheel and then he either checks the ready or not ready box. This does not actually happen in real life they are using very cleaver tactics to show how they let there cheese fully mature to get the best taste out of the cheese before turning it into a delicious cracker.
Interrupting Cheese
In this ad the cheese wheel is being annoying and will not stop talking so the doctor has to check the not ready box. In the commercial the cheese is being really annoying and the doctor checks the not ready box in a very frantic way showing that he was really not ready. The underlying meaning in this commercial is that the cheese wheel was still not matured enough. Really this means that the cheese was not aged enough to give it that deep cheese flavor cheeses get when they age. By using human characteristics in this commercial it shows that this commercial is serious yet funny because it is a cheese wheel not a human. The Kellogg's company makes sure the Cheez-Its are made with the best tasting cheese.
Weights
The next Cheez-It ad is along the same line but this cheese wheel is in work out gear and has a weight set in front of it. The cheese wheel is going on and on about how big he has gotten and he tells the examiner what muscle he has been working out. This hidden message in this commercial is that he is gloating about how big he is and wants to be made into a big Cheez-It. The examiner is kinda confused and still checks the not ready box because he was not fully matured. By using human characteristics referring to weight lifting and how you get big when you lift weights. Also the human characteristic of being in the doctors office is still present in this commercial.
Wild Thing
The Conclusion
Who doesn't love Cheez-Its. They are a great tasting snack that is quick and easy to eat. Cheez-It crackers are one of the top selling snacks on the market. 340.5 million dollars that Kellogg's makes off of this great snack in one year. That is crazy! With these commerials using human characteristics to make it serious and adding humor by using a cheese wheel instead of a human they are able to market to a wide variety of people. They have proved that if you take the time to make something, and use the perfect ingredients then you will have a great tasting snack that everyone enjoys, and make a lot of money.
"Cheez-It Commercial: Interrupting Cheese." YouTube. YouTube, 4 Aug.
2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
"Cheez It Big TV Commercial 'Weights'" YouTube. YouTube, 26 July
2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
"Cheez It Zingz TV Commercial Wild Thing Real Cheese." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Jan.
2014. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
Eliot, Staurt, and Sharon King. "Sunshine Biscuits." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Nov. 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
