What Do Rice Krispie Treats Have To Do With
Subway Accidents? by Rob Walker, MONEYBOX of Slate
Online
The Wall Street Journal recently noted a trend in what it
called ‘ouch ads’ — advertising featuring imagery that makes you
wince. Jumping on the bandwagon, Rice Krispies Treats has
introduced a couple of shocking new spots, including one that’s set
on a subway and involves the loss of a limb. What are these ads
trying to say?, asks Slate’s Rob Walke. ‘Shock
tactics are nothing new in advertising, of course. Someone from the
agency that did the commuter ad explained to the Journal that the
goal is to get the attention of teen-agers. If that’s the case,
then the ads seem to be trying to associate Rice Krispies Treats
with a certain sensibility — hip and knowing, but not above low
humor. So the treat is being sold less as a treat than as a kind of
signifier: If you ‘get’ these ads, then perhaps Rice Krispies
Treats are an appropriate addition to your ‘lifestyle.’
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