In a bit of weird and wonderful marketing news, Kellogg’s has created a limited-edition cereal called “Totes Amazeballs” — after seeing a tweet from Tim Burgess, frontman of the Britpop band The Charlatans.
“I heard someone use the expression ‘totes amazeballs’ [slang for ‘totally amazing’],” Burgess explained to Adweek. “I sent a cheeky tweet saying I’d invented a new cereal and that Kellogg’s were interested. But within an hour they’d got in touch.”
Though initial production was limited to just one box for Burgess — with an illustration of the singer on the box — the Rocky Road-ish concoction has generated enough publicity and fan enthusiasm that
I’m guessing (and hoping) we’ll be seeing more of the cereal.
In contrast to Ben & Jerry’s unappetizing Schweddy Balls and latest marketing misstep with “Taste The Lin-Sanity”, Kellogg’s has parlayed this exuberant and awesomely trendy expression into terrific PR — showing itself to be incredibly fast-moving, good-humored, and, well, just pretty dang cool. If the company does decide to go mainstream with the product, the name will be totes appreciated by kids, 20-somethings, and, of course, the large and unheralded base of late-night consumers with the munchies.
My only quibble is that the cereal itself does not appear to be ball-shaped — it’s more like chunks of stuff (though it’s hard to be sure from the picture). Having the name correspond to the actual form factor would’ve been truly totes amazeballs.
But I still love the name, the product, and the fact that there are clearly brand managers over there at Kellogg’s with a sense of humor, and who don’t feel the need to put every concept through a focus group.
Gotta go! I’m off to tweet Kellogg’s about my new cereal Nom Noms.
Overall Grade: A
