Will dancing cherries be able to rejuvenate Fisherman’s Friend?

A new animated campaign for the cough lozenge brand aims to do just that. Created by Toronto-based ad shop groundzero Marketing Communications and starring a cast of the siren-red fruit, it launches Dec. 1 with the goal of introducing a new cherry flavour for Fisherman’s Friend.

According to Roy Levine, VP and copywriter at groundzero, the advertising reaches out to younger consumers who tend to find the brand ‘a bit older,’ without turning off the core user.

Another objective is to connect with those potential customers who in research acknowledged that the brand worked, but suggested that the taste didn’t appeal to them.

Produced in collaboration with Soho, a Toronto-based post-production and visual effects studio, the two 30-second ads (one in each official language) begin by introducing an original pack of Fisherman’s Friend, as the music croons ‘too strong, too strong.’ Suddenly the grooving cherries appear and the lyrics change to ‘tastes so good.’

Ultimately, the ‘hero package’ surges into the air, swallows a cherry lozenge and magically transforms into the new cherry packaging. The voiceover says: ‘New cherry-flavoured Fisherman’s Friend – it works and you can’t beat the taste.’

‘We wanted to reference the original flavour and have a transformation take place to introduce cherry through animation,’ explains Tony Cleave, CD at Soho.

While Fisherman’s Friend has introduced other flavours in the past, cherry is the number-one selling cough lozenge flavour in North America, so Levine expects the campaign, which also includes two 15-second versions, to do ‘good things for the brand.’

Fisherman’s Friend is imported from the U.K., and distributed in Canada by TFB & Associates in Markham, Ont.

Client: TFB & Associates

Agency: groundzero Marketing Communications

Creative Director: Bill Keenan

Copywriter: Roy Levine

Account Manager: Jennifer Hedley

Producer: Sharon Nelson

Production: Soho

Executive Producer: Doug Morris

Creative Director/Designer: Tony Cleave

Lead Animator: Davor Celar

Senior Animator/Technical Director: Derek Gebhart

Producer: Josa Porter

Music Studio: Tattoo Music