There I was, innocently chopping vegetables for a salad at my kitchen counter, my mind on a million other things while my hands worked on autopilot. And then, without warning… the little tomatoes seduced me.
I had picked up the container to peel back the cover, when my eye caught the writing on the tab:
Seriously. “Lettuce out?” Produce packaging with a sense of humor? It’s corny and goofy and oh-so-endearing, and I am not going to lie: I giggled audibly. And that particular salad brought me a great deal of joy.
Why? Because THE TOMATOES MADE A JOKE, people. In this world of legal jargon, marketing buzzwords, and brand manifestos, a simple salad pun like “lettuce out” is unbelievably charming and disarming for consumers. I didn’t really have an opinion of my tomatoes before. Suddenly, I cared. I felt like the folks at NatureSweet® must be pretty cool and groovy…and human. Real people, not a faceless sea of business operations. And I liked them. As if they were a single person, making a one-on-one connection with me, in a very unscripted, informal way.
Learn from this, folks. It cost them nothing to add this dash of personality to their packaging, and yet it did more to inspire my warm feelings than any expensive ad campaign ever could. Not convinced? How about…
The napkins at Chipotle Mexican Grill:
The inside of a Dove® chocolate wrapper.
The tip jar sign at Cape May Brewing Company:
The point is…brands spend a ton of money on marketing and chasing brand loyalty, and yet they miss these simple, often no-cost opportunities to quietly worm their way into people’s hearts. With that one little lettuce joke, I became a “Cherub Girl,” just like the guy who once told me he’s an “EverRoast® Man”…except I’m not just using it as a pickup line.