Re: Your Best Deserves Fresh
Dear Kroger Company,
I'll be honest, I feel a little awkward. A few days ago I let loose with a rant detailing my annoyance over the slogan: Your Best Deserves Fresh. Then, while glancing through my site traffic statistics, I noticed that someone from The Kroger Co. has read that little post a few times. I admit that it probably comes across as pissy, condescending and overly emotional. Truthfully, I'm not actually enraged by this bit of advertising. But hyperbole has its place, no?
So, since you're out there, apparently listening, this is how I really feel: you can do better. I know you can. You are a HUGE corporation. You have bought out chain after chain of regional stores, welcoming them into your gigantic, corporate fold. You have the money and the power to choose competence - even excellence.
When I see a slogan like this that is sloppy and unclear, I feel sad. To me it seems like a big shrug of the shoulders, communicating satisfaction with the bare minimum: "Meh, nobody is paying attention, why should we care if the message really makes sense?"
Sure, I get the idea: your best casserole recipe deserves fresh green beans, or your best friend deserves fresh strawberries and cream after running her first 5K, or maybe your best culinary effort deserves (would be enhanced by?) fresh ingredients. But the missing nouns and general vagueness (not to mention the fact that it's a little weird to say that something other than a person 'deserves' anything) leave me feeling annoyed every time I think about Fred Meyer. And I've heard several other people independently voice their irritation, too, which is probably not your goal.
It's not very polite to just sit back and criticize without offering helpful alternatives, and I'm not trained in PR or very knowledgeable about advertising and copywriting so unfortunately these examples are fairly lame and uninspired, but I felt like I should at least try:
Possible slogans including "fresh" and "best"-
Anyway, good luck with all of that. I confess I only stooped to complain about this publicly in the first place because I have been sleep-deprived this week, which impairs my judgment and damages my ability to come up with truly interesting, creative blog posts. And also because someone cut out this advertisement from the newspaper and left it on my pillow, goading me into action.
I apologize for the rude tone of the previous post, and I hope this clears up my thoughts on the matter.
Sincerely,
Alexis
I'll be honest, I feel a little awkward. A few days ago I let loose with a rant detailing my annoyance over the slogan: Your Best Deserves Fresh. Then, while glancing through my site traffic statistics, I noticed that someone from The Kroger Co. has read that little post a few times. I admit that it probably comes across as pissy, condescending and overly emotional. Truthfully, I'm not actually enraged by this bit of advertising. But hyperbole has its place, no?
So, since you're out there, apparently listening, this is how I really feel: you can do better. I know you can. You are a HUGE corporation. You have bought out chain after chain of regional stores, welcoming them into your gigantic, corporate fold. You have the money and the power to choose competence - even excellence.
When I see a slogan like this that is sloppy and unclear, I feel sad. To me it seems like a big shrug of the shoulders, communicating satisfaction with the bare minimum: "Meh, nobody is paying attention, why should we care if the message really makes sense?"
Sure, I get the idea: your best casserole recipe deserves fresh green beans, or your best friend deserves fresh strawberries and cream after running her first 5K, or maybe your best culinary effort deserves (would be enhanced by?) fresh ingredients. But the missing nouns and general vagueness (not to mention the fact that it's a little weird to say that something other than a person 'deserves' anything) leave me feeling annoyed every time I think about Fred Meyer. And I've heard several other people independently voice their irritation, too, which is probably not your goal.
It's not very polite to just sit back and criticize without offering helpful alternatives, and I'm not trained in PR or very knowledgeable about advertising and copywriting so unfortunately these examples are fairly lame and uninspired, but I felt like I should at least try:
Possible slogans including "fresh" and "best"-
- Always Fresh, Always the Best
- Fresh Is Best
- The Freshest Food at the Best Price
- There's No Best Without Fresh (this one is very questionable)
- The Best of the Best, Refreshingly Fresh
- Not Always Fresh, But We Do Our Best
- What Does Anyone Deserve, Really? Just Come Here And Buy Your Freaking Groceries.
Anyway, good luck with all of that. I confess I only stooped to complain about this publicly in the first place because I have been sleep-deprived this week, which impairs my judgment and damages my ability to come up with truly interesting, creative blog posts. And also because someone cut out this advertisement from the newspaper and left it on my pillow, goading me into action.
I apologize for the rude tone of the previous post, and I hope this clears up my thoughts on the matter. Sincerely,
Alexis
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