Who's Behind Those Pistachio Ads? A Guide to Nut Boards
Since the BA offices are in Times Square, we've had to deal with some temporary, uh, distractions during Super Bowl season—that full-size toboggan run for one, as well as a larger-than-life Stephen Colbert tumbling down a billboard in a deluge of neon nuts. The billboard is for Wonderful Pistachios, and serves as a teaser for the teaser for the nut's imminent Super Bowl ad. If this year's commercial is anything like last year's (in case you forgot, Psy and some nuts got down, Gangnam-style), it's sure to be weird.
You may think something as innocent and wholesome as nuts would be free of the media machine, but alas. These snacks may be "natural" (whatever that means), but they're still subject to the same budgets and advertorial spins as more processed food products. Here's what you need to know about who's selling you your nuts.
PR Newswire1/12After recruiting the likes of ____Miss Piggy, Dennis Rodman, and the Peanuts (such a missed opportunity for the National Peanut Board), Wonderful Pistachios now turns to Stephen Colbert for its latest celebrity-fueled ad campaign. A 30-second spot for this year's Super Bowl will cost Wonderful $4 million.
American Pistachio Growers2/12Pistachios
They're lucky enough to have Wonderful's crazy ad campaign doing most of their work, but the American Pistachio Growers—the non-brand-affiliated advocate for the pistachio industry—still punche their share of hours on the clock. The Growers can reap the exposure benefits from these big-name campaigns, but Wonderful can't buy all the pistachios coming out of Cali. BUDGET__:__ $10.5 million (FY 2013–14) BRAND: Wonderful, obviously, tellin' you to "Get Crackin'!" BIG BREAK: Stars shill for Wonderful's nuts, but generic pistachios remain a nut for the people, by the people. Miss California 2013 loves pistachios for keeping her hair lush and nails shiny. Stephen Colbert, take note: She keeps a blog about the health benefits for women.
California Walnut Board3/12Walnuts
More than 99 percent of walnuts munched in America come from California, so the nut has the California Walnut Board and the California Walnut Commission working double duty. BUDGET__:__ $8,020,950 (combined between the two groups, 2013–2014). BIG BREAK__:__ Walnuts keep a pretty low profile, but their biggest (and unwanted) publicity comes from the massive nut heists that strike California a couple of times a year. The Board, however, would rather highlight the nut's romantic side (e.g., this photo from the pre–Valentine's Day marketing campaign): This year, skip the rose petals and sprinkle your sweetheart's duvet with California walnuts instead.
National Peanut Board4/12Peanuts
The National Peanut Board has been working with states across the "Peanut Belt"—roughly at the intersection of the Bible and the Cotton belts—since 2000. TAGLINES: “Peanuts: Energy for the Good Life” and "The Perfectly Powerful Peanut" BUDGET: $8.6 million, (FY 2013-14) BRAND: Planter's has been hawking the monocled Mr. Peanut since he first appeared on a billboard in Times Square in 1937. STRATEGY: The biggest hurdle facing the ubiquitous nut is allergies—not much Mr. Peanut can do there. Moms, however, hold the power. Choosy moms choose Jif, but hardcore moms eat peanuts straight.
Seoul Broadcasting System5/12Almonds
California's almond industry has come a long way since the 1700s, when Franciscan padres brought the first trees from Spain. The state now claims 80 percent of the world's almonds. The Almond Board of California voted last year's 41st Annual Almond Conference the best one yet! BUDGET: $8 million, baseline TAGLINE: "Crunch on!" including various reasons why you, your friend, your neighbor, crunches on almonds. BRAND: "Have you had your can a week?" —Blue Diamond BIG BREAK: The nut's star turn came when it landed a product placement cameo in a Korean TV drama. There are well-placed snack breaks, subliminal nutritional messages, and even a romantic scene shot in a California almond orchard. There! See it? Slightly left and up from the young ingénue's head? It's...an almond!
Lifetime6/12Macadamia Nuts
Importation of foreign nuts is a major issue in Hawaii, so the Hawai‘i Macadamia Nut Association was formed to bring nut consumption back home. __TAGLINE: "__The Hawai‘i Nut … Macadamias Grown with Aloha" BUDGET: $2,998.01 (FY 2006—last available data; marketing efforts have fallen off in recent years) BRAND: "The Taste of the Tropics" —Hershey's, via Mauna Loa BIG BREAK: After a half-hearted Great Hawaiian Mac Nut Trail and a now-defunct Girl Scout cookie, MNA's best publicity boost came in the form of unofficial celeb spokesperson Roseanne Barr with Roseanne's Nuts, the most thrilling (and only) macadamia-nut-themed reality show ever made.
Hazelnut Marketing Board7/12Hazelnuts
The Oregon Filbert Commission was formed in 1949 to oversee nut operations in Oregon and Washington, but its first significant contribution came 30 years later when it made the game-changing decision to rebrand the filbert as the *hazelnut—*the nut's English nickname—because who wants to eat a filbert? The commission resurfaced as the Hazelnut Marketing Board, and never looked back. TAGLINE__:__ "Indulgence, in a nutshell"—other nuts can go healthy, but filberts have more fun. BUDGET: About $400,000 (from per ton assessment based on 2013 harvest) BRAND: So it's not actually for hazelnuts, but the Cult of Nutella, swiftly followed by Jif and now Hershey knock-offs, is by far the nut growers' biggest fan base. BIG BREAK: Again, those Nutella ads have more star power than the Hazelnut Board's wildest advertorial dreams, but these jovial farmers make for a lovely company face.
Agricultural Research Service8/12Pecans
America's pecan industry is sadly sectarian. Georgia, Alabama, and Texas each has its own Pecan Board. So far, Georgia's got the fanciest PR, Texas is behind the Texas Co-op Power magazine–sponsored recipe contest, and Alabama landed its state the coveted "State Nut" status. Combined: They could conquer the world. TAGLINE__:__ "Hang your hat on, the taste as big as Texas" a.k.a. ____ "AntioxiNUT" a.k.a. "Brain Food" a.k.a. the nut for "All Seasons, All Reasons" a.k.a. "Nature's health food." He doesn't have a slogan yet, but this nameless mascot from the Pecan Producers Intl could give Mr. Peanut a run for his moneybags. STRATEGY__:__ Georgia's board isn't messing around; it landed the same PR team that handles big names like Blue Bell ice cream and the Florida Beef Council. BIG BREAK: The nut gets a lot of star power from No.1 Fan and Empire State South chef Hugh Acheson, a level of exposure closely trailed by the cutthroat annual Pecans in Science Contest, for kids grades 7–12.
Christina Holmes9/12Chestnuts
The Chestnut Growers of America** watch over the industry nationwide, and just last year, Michigan became the nut's leading grower: Everyone's looking to the chestnut to be the much-needed revitalizing factor for Detroit. STRATEGY: Chestnut's tale is an underdog tale—Chestnut v. Goliath, where Goliath is a tin of "mixed nuts." TAGLINE: Chestnuts are striking out on their own: Just call it "the un-nut." BIG BREAK: Nat King Cole is the only spokesperson chestnuts could ever want: In 2004, "The Christmas Song" was named the top carol in the key demographic of women 30–49.
pinenutsyndrome.wordpress.com10/12Pine Nuts
The U.S. imports about 8 million pounds of pine nuts per year, mostly from China, but there's a little-known cult growership of native pine nuts out of New Mexico. STRATEGY: Whole groups dedicate themselves to solving the "Great Pine Nut Mystery," a bitter taste that can take over after eating pinons grown from China. Victims of "pine mouth" are the New Mexico nuts' biggest target audience, but the industry is in dire need of a mascot and slogan. A theme park in the Pine Nut mountains, anyone?
ARK Africa11/12Cashews
No cashews are grown in America, so most nuts munched stateside are sourced from India, Vietnam, and Nigeria. STRATEGY__:__ Organic grower Out of Africa is the only producer putting serious effort into its marketing plans [see photo]. But considering the strong resemblance between the goofy, Seussical cashew fruit and a little nugget in an oversized hat, the potential for an official cashew mascot is ripe.
Scientific American Supplement, 188712/12Brazil Nuts
Long dominated by a single family monopoly in Brazil, most Brazil nuts now come not from Brazil but from Bolivia. These actually-not-nuts-more-like-blueberries cannot be cultivated in large-scale plantations, and so the industry relies on wild collection. Since they can be harvested without destroying tropical forests, the Brazil nut industry is an incentive to keep rainforests alive! It's even illegal to cut down a Brazil nut tree in Brazil. TAGLINE: "Eat a nut, save the world" should be the nut's marketing campaign, which is sadly nonexistent. There is no official nickname, and the nut's former—and extremely offensive—moniker involving a certain perjorative term beginning with the letter "n" thankfully fell out of favor around the 1960s. BIG BREAK: The invention of the mixed-nut party assortment, because does anyone eat Brazil nuts on their own?
