Kraft: Then and Now

When you think of hot dogs, do you think of a specific brand? How about when you think of pizza, or breakfast foods, or chips? Almost any kind of food is sold through many different manufacturers, and each brand has its own price and way of advertising. I always wonder what it is about certain brands that make people buy the product. I figure that much of it has to do with not only quality and quantity, but also price and how appealing the brand makes the food look on the advertisements. To attempt to draw a conclusion on how companies advertise to people, what groups they advertise to, and make a statement about food cultures and values, I decided to analyze two food advertisements from the same company, for the same product, but in different eras. 

I decided to analyze two macaroni and cheese advertisements from Kraft, one from the mid-to late-70s, and one from present day. The first ad has a plate with Kraft macaroni and cheese, a sausage-type meat, and two pickles, with the largest font reading “How to eat well when you’re cooking for the kids.” The next largest font is next to a picture of the box the dinner comes from, which asserts the company’s name, and underneath they placed the logo of the company, which has not changed much in the past forty-three years. The advertisement seems to be targeting parents, specifically moms, who were more expected to prepare meals for the family during that era. In small lettering, the ad discusses how kids love to eat macaroni and cheese, how the food can be served with almost any other type of food to be a full, balanced and nutritional meal that everyone in the family will love. The ad also mentions how the macaroni costs about 11 cents per serving, and feeds “the whole crowd.” Kraft makes the dish look nutritious and attempts to make it look like it costs more than it really does by adding the other components, attracting women to the advertisement. It gives women the idea that they can whip up something simple yet delicious that will feed the whole family, and the kids will love it. Kraft also uses the cost as a way to lure customers in, by mentioning how cheap it is to make a dish that looks good, and the whole family will enjoy. 

Since getting kids to eat healthy was and has always been a chore (kids are notorious for being some of the pickiest eaters), and many families tend to be on a budget, or looking for something simple and fast to make for dinner, it seems Kraft took these factors into account when generating the ad. The ad appeals to mothers and many families because not only is macaroni and cheese cheap and easy to make, which appeals greatly to the adults of the family, many kids will not say no to the dish when placed in front of them. Kraft uses quite a few words on this ad to persuade mom to “join the crowd,” and to explain how cheap it is to buy Kraft. They use a picture of what looks like very cheesy macaroni and cheese, along with other components that look like what moms would put on the table for dinner. Considering these appeals, I would draw the conclusion that during this era, much like today, families were on a budget and always looking for something good, yet somewhat healthy to put on the table for everyone to enjoy. People then were looking for something cheap yet tasty to serve, and Kraft wanted to deliver, so the company made sure to let customers know how cheap it was to buy their brand, and how easy it was to incorporate the food with other components to make a great looking and tasting meal.

After finding the ad from the 1970s, I decided to look up an ad from present day, to see if Kraft’s approach has changed, if their target audience has changed since the last advertisement. I found an ad that was placed in public on steps, covering the steps in the “Kraft blue,” the color of all the Kraft boxes. The advertisement has minimal words, with the statement reading, “Fortunately, our recipe has fewer steps,” and only one picture of an elbow macaroni noodle in the shape of a smile, with “you know you love it” underneath the noodle smile. The ad takes up the entire area of the steps, and looks to be in a pretty populated location, so many people probably see it every day. Compared to the ad Kraft put out decades earlier, this ad does not seem to address the price being cheap and greatly affordable, but more focuses on how fast and easy the dish is to make. The targeted audience still seems to be adults, but parents in general instead of just moms, who would do a majority of the shopping decades ago when it was still widely thought men should be the only ones working. 

The only appeal in this ad would be the quickness and easiness of making the meal, however it could be that Kraft did not add the price on this ad, but has it on some of their other ads. Kraft is attempting to appeal to students, families, or even workers at a company who are constantly looking for something that is fast and easy to make (the easy mac is as easy as just adding water and heating it up). While Kraft is not advertising for the dish to be healthy and nutritious, many times people who are in a huge hurry to whip something up are not completely worrying about how healthy the food they eat for lunch or dinner may be, but that it is done fast so they can carry on with their day. Based on these appeals, one can draw the conclusion that in present day, people are more concerned with having food readily available, and fast and easy to make and consume. 

Overall, the differences between the two ads are not drastic, but they are present. The first ad was more concentrated on selling customers on how cheap the food is, how easy and fast it cooks, and how it can be paired with other components to make a good dish for the whole family to enjoy. In present day, however, the ad focuses more on how fast and easy it is to make the food, without worrying about nutrition and price. It seems that, based off these two adds, food culture and values have not changed too drastically when it comes to macaroni and cheese. People always look for the brand that is the fastest and easiest to make, something everyone will enjoy, and won’t put a giant dent in their wallets.