Jersey Mike’s introduces Mike’s Hot Italian sub—via this commercial from White advertising agency Highdive—with a stereotypical Italian American voiceover hollering, “Fuggedaboudit!”
Not sure what the Order of Sons and Daughters of Italy in America would think of the spot—but the concept is lazy, potentially offensive, and thoroughly fuggedable.
DIKO—a White advertising agency in Austin, Texas—is responsible for the Liquid Death and Rumpl promotion featuring M.O.B. Shopping Network, a campaign rife with stereotypes historically deemed offensive to Italian Americans.
Somebody should’ve whacked it at the concept stage.
DIKO LAUNCHES “M.O.B. SHOPPING NETWORK” FOR LIQUID DEATH & RUMPL COLLABORATION
Two mobsters turn outdoor product benefits into suspicious selling points for the Body Bag sleeping bag and Dirt Nap puffy blanket.
Independent creative agency DIKO has created “M.O.B. Shopping Network,” a campaign introducing Rumpl’s collaboration with Liquid Death through a home-shopping operation run by two men with unusual qualifications.
The 75-second hero film stars two mobsters in a wood-paneled studio pitching the Body Bag sleeping bag and Dirt Nap puffy blanket from the Liquid Death edition by Rumpl collection. Their sales presentation highlights the products’ outdoor performance features through suspiciously specific examples. The sales pitch deteriorates quickly as the thrashing, not-quite-dead occupant of the Body Bag is wrestled back into frame by two associates in plastic cleanup uniforms.
A natural fit with an unexpected twist
The collaboration brings together Liquid Death, the beverage brand known for its irreverent marketing, and Rumpl, the brand known for its technical blankets made with post-consumer recycled materials. Rumpl’s use of recycled plastic also connects with Liquid Death’s “Death to Plastic” mission. Both brands show that making quality products doesn’t mean taking yourself too seriously.
For DIKO, the creative challenge was to turn Liquid Death and Rumpl’s partnership into a product story. The product names supplied the starting point. Body Bag and Dirt Nap suggested the perfect spokespeople: two mobsters who would regard both products as everyday essentials. The gear’s actual features gave those characters a reason to keep talking.
“Who better to sell products called the Dirt Nap and Body Bag than two highly experienced experts?” said Diko Daghlian, founder and chief creative officer of DIKO, who also directed the film. “We looked at the features through our mobsters’ eyes. As luck would have it, both products were already occupied, making for a couple of convenient live demonstrations.”
Real features. Questionable applications.
The campaign uses the familiar conventions of late-night home shopping to connect product information with the mobsters’ line of work. Water repellency becomes insurance against “spills, stains… whatevah.” A sleeping bag’s warmth comes in handy when someone unexpectedly ends up in the Nevada desert in the middle of the night.
A free gold watch adds another classic infomercial incentive, even if it’s displayed on its former owner’s wrist.
“The creative is unhinged, but it makes strategic sense because the humor comes directly from the products,” said James Atkin, VP of global brand at Rumpl. “The names establish the mafia connection, and the features make it convincing. These characters just have very different reasons for needing them. That lets us show what the gear does in a way that feels right for both brands.”
“When two brands are practically obligated to be irreverent, things go off the rails fast. DIKO kept the rules simple: one-sentence ideas, instantly understood, funny without being mean. Then commit fully to the bit. It’s the only way to sell a body bag on a home shopping network,” said Justin Lucero, design director at Rumpl.
The campaign includes the hero film, two product videos, and four 10-second vignettes. It runs across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Rumpl’s owned channels, including Rumpl.com, email, and SMS, supported by paid social.
This Patreon campaign featuring Wiseguy Santa delivers clichéd and contrived cultural cluelessness.
Oddly enough, Patreon Community Guidelines allegedly frown on using stereotypes—as well as engaging with crime and criminal activity.
This Freshpet commercial serves up Italian-Americans as Mob stereotypes—and the result is culturally clueless dog shit.
Here’s some background information about Tony the Tiger:
Tony began to be humanized in the 1970s; he was given an Italian-American nationality and consumers were briefly introduced to more of Tony’s family including Mama Tony, Mrs. Tony, and a daughter, Antoinette. Tony was a popular figure among the young Italian-American population and it showed in 1974, where he was deemed “Tiger of the Year” in an advertising theme taken from the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The advertising theme declared, “This is the Year of the Tiger and Tony is the Tiger of the Year.” Later that year, Tony graced the covers of Italian GQ and Panorama. In addition to Tony’s success, during this decade, son Tony Jr. was even given his own short-lived cereal in 1975, Frosted Rice. He would make a comeback in the 2000s by replacing his father as the official mascot.
Amazing that Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes advertising over the years has never exploited Tony’s heritage, integrating Mafia stereotypes or Fat Tony references. The brand has introduced Tony’s wife, son, daughter and mother—but no Godfather…?
This OHRA insurance commercial from the Netherlands shows cultural cluelessness and Mafioso stereotypes are global—it’s amazing that the responsible White advertising agency didn’t show the characters in concrete-wooden shoes.
Advertising Age spotlighted Corleone Fine Italian Foods, a company that taps The Godfather films franchise to sell its products—all of which inspired a few Mafia-related lines in the trade publication’s story. Has anyone asked the Italian American One Voice Coalition and the Order of Sons of Italy to weigh in?
In the U.S., using Mob and Mafioso stereotypes usually draws the ire of Italian-American groups. Yet DDB in Russia went ahead and depicted Russian gangsters shopping for a new Volkswagen—with the salesman presenting all the features for hauling dead bodies. Somebody shoulda whacked the responsible creative team.
Wieden + Kennedy in London created a Babbel commercial that might inspire criticism from Sons of Italy or The National Italian American Foundation. How do you say, “Now that’s fucked up!” in Italian?
Harvard Business Review published the cartoon above in the monthly “Strategic Humor” section, which challenges readers to “test your management wit in the HBR Caption Contest. If we choose your caption as the winner, you will be featured in an upcoming magazine issue and win a free Harvard Business Review Press book.” Maybe the HBR editorial board needs a free book covering cultural cluelessness and insensitivity. Fuggedaboudit. Somebody call the Sons of Italy pronto.
MultiCultClassics previously posted about the Johnsonville account review, noting that the incumbent White advertising agency deserved to lose the business. When the bratwurst maker chose to go with Droga5, MultiCultClassics pointed out the cultural cluelessness of the new White agency. Sure enough, a fresh commercial presents stereotypical depictions of Italian-Americans that are sure to offend the Sons of Italy and others.
This Ally Bank commercial will not find allies at Sons of Italy in America or The National Italian American Foundation.
News sources reported Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne apologized for using an Italian-American slur during the North American International Auto Show last January. Gee, this guy should be working for General Motors.
Chrysler CEO apologizes for Italian-American slur
By Brent Snavely, Detroit Free Press
UPDATE: 6:30 ET with comments from head of Italian-American organization and excerpts from Marchionne letter of apology.
Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has apologized to the Italian-American One Voice Coalition for using a term offensive to Italian-Americans during an interview during the North American International Auto Show last January in Detroit.
During a roundtable discussion with reporters, Marchionne was discussing a new Alfa Romeo car to be sold in the U.S. when he said, “with all due respect to my American friends, it needs to be a wop engine.”
Marchionne’s use of the term was intended to convey that a Fiat-designed engine would be better than an American engine for this particular model. The term, however, is offensive to Italian Americans and others, and Marchionne apologized in a letter dated May 15.
The Italian-American One Voice Coalition, which exists to fight bias and ethnic slurs against Americans of Italian descent, sought an apology from Marchionne for several months.
“We jumped on it immediately,” said Manny Alfano, founder and president of the coalition.
Marchionne’s letter acknowledges that his remark was unacceptable and apologized to “anyone who may have been offended.”
“Having had to live through a period of integration into another country a number of years ago, I am keenly aware of the negative implications of stereotyping and the significant efforts required to undo its effects,” Marchionne wrote about his move as teenager from Italk to Toronto with his family. “I am proud of my Italian heritage, and nothing I have said should be interpreted as an attempt at minimizing its value. I extend my apologies to anyone who may have been offended by my remark.”
The term is said to be short for “without papers,” according to the Urban Dictionary, and was used as a derogatory reference to Italian immigrants who came to the U.S. in droves largely from Southern Italy in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
“I am very happy that we got the apology. I think that is the best we could do at this point in time,” Alfano said.
In 2011, Marchionne apologized for using the term “shyster” to describe the high-interest rates on the loans from the U.S. and Canadian governments that funded Chrysler’s turnaround.
Marchionne is to be honored Friday by the Sons of Italy Foundation, a separate organization from the Italian-American One Voice Coalition. A Chrysler spokeswoman said the timing of Marchionne’s apology is unrelated to the Sons of Italy event.
