Chuck Vegás Makes Video Choices - Swedish Fish

What happens when Swedish Fish meet nihilism? Chuck Vegás takes the time to explain in his video choice of the week.

Commercials are fair game for this series, and this commercial should provide ample reason why this is so. What is the purpose of an advertisement? To raise brand awareness? To communicate product features and benefits? To attack a competitive offering? To entertain? A marketer would probably say all of the above, depending, of course, upon the strategic purposes underlying the ad campaign. Then there is Swedish Fish. Some years ago, Swedish Fish launched a campaign that touted Swedish Fish as "a friend you can eat." The resulting creative collateral suggested an absurd worldview, endemic of a sick, Godless nihilism. Surely this man and his friend no longer had a common language, a means of reasonably communicating, and when language and meaning fails, madness ensues.