Remember the good ol' scratch and sniff stickers? Well, Welch's has just taken it a step further with their new ad magazine campaign: the lickable ad.
Update 2/18/08: Jay Minkoff of FirstFlavor, the maker of the "Peel 'n Taste" product explained:Welch's is taking out full-page print ads in People magazine this month that give readers a chance to sample its grape juice by licking the ad. The front of the advertisement shows a huge bottle of the juice, while the back has a strip that peels up and off, with text that reads: "For a TASTY fact, remove & LICK."
Marketers are excited about the prospects for lickable ads, but also have to deal with the "ick" factor. Since magazines are often passed from reader to reader (think doctors' offices) there is a good chance that saliva could be left on the ad. Readers are supposed to peel off the entire sticker on the Welch's ad before licking, says First Flavor, the company that developed the technology used in the ad. If someone doesn't rip off the whole sticker, First Flavor says, the flap can't reseal, giving people an easy way to know whether the ad has already been licked.
Our product, which can be attached to a print ad and peeled off, is a sealed tamper evident foil pouch containing a piece of edible film. (Similar to popular breath strips.) One peels opens the pouch and places the piece of edible film on your tongue. The edible film dissolves quickly leaving you with a burst of flavor. No licking involved!
This might make more sense if you were trying to sell Mountain Dew to foreigners, or Pocky to old white men.
I'd love to try one of these..
if only they could bring it to Singapore =)
Here is a video of some radio hosts trying this our live on the air:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL4HYkhrXqg