Send Noods ... Or Don't? Kraft Accused of Creeping With Mac and Cheese
Well, readers, in another weird 2020 twist of events, it turns out the internet isn't exactly keen on sending noods -- noodles that is. Last week, Kraft pulled a new advertising campaign for their iconic boxed Mac and Cheese after receiving backlash that their cheesy joke about sending comfort via noodles to friends amid the Covid-19 pandemic went a little too far-falle.
It seems a bit fu-silly to me, but to each their own, I guess. The campaign, which features SNL alum Vanessa Bayer, has since been more or less scrubbed from social media, the only easily accessible remnant a re-upload commentary video from YouTuber @JustALazyGamer.
Don't Miss
"In these strange times, people are in need of extra comfort," Bayer says in the ad some allege went pasta point of no return. "That's why it's always a nice gesture to send noods so they know you're thinking of them. Noods, I mean. Not nudes." After spending the next minute and change clarifying the difference between sending noods and sending nudes, the commercial cuts to their product shot -- a blurred out bowl of mac and cheese. Nice.
Considering the time and effort Kraft's marketing team evidently put into this campaign, it seems they were confident their edgy campaign would be a hit ... orzo they thought. While Heinz Kraft's spokesperson, Lynne Galia told BuzzFeed News that "the social promotion resulted in over 20,000 consumers across the country receiving boxes of America's favorite Kraft Mac and Cheese," soon after, angry parents and members of everyone's least favorite conspiracy cult QAnon took to social media to express their ire.
"This is not okay. Don't you realize that a huge portion of the people who actually eat your mac n' cheese are children?!" one Instagram user wrote on a since-deleted post. "Please delete this!! Unacceptable! Switching over to Annie's organics." Oof.
While a number of social media users flocked to the comments of the now-deleted posts, as archived above by BuzzFeed News, other users took to Twitter to express their disdain with the campaign.
Despite catching flak online, likely prompting Kraft's PR team to tear their, uh, angel hair out, I personally liked the, um, campaign-nelle. What can I say? Noods make everything better.
To hear more terrible dad jokes as written by a 24-year-old, childless girl, follow Carly on Instagram @HuntressThompson_ and on Twitter @TennesAnyone.
