Folgers Coffee: When only foreign aid coffee will do
Posted by TheShot on 10 Dec 2008 | Tagged as: Consumer Trends
In the “what were they thinking?” department, here’s a recent blog post discussing a new Folgers Coffee TV advertising campaign: Folgers: the taste of bad advertising « Jenichka’s Weblog. It’s been about 2-3 months since Folgers last publicly humiliated themselves — so this could be an improvement, depending on your perspective.
The theme of this ad campaign?: “Folgers Coffee — the choice of American aid workers stuck in Romania repatriating victims of Piteşti prison experiments.” Which begs the question: just how hard up do you have to be to enjoy a cup of Folgers? You know it’s bad when Romanians have taken insult with the ad campaign.
15 Comments »
I am not Romanian, but I am European, and just saw this commercial, and yes, I too am pretty offended by the ad.
I just saw this for the first time today (11 Dec 08) and had to google ‘romanian folgers commercial, which led me to this site.
It is sad enough that this country runs on watery Dunkin’, but that’s why I avoid it. There can simply be no way that anybody, anywhere in Europe (France excepted, dreadful coffee) would need to fly in American coffee, never mind the freeze dried stuff.
disregard that last bit. Obviously it wasn’t freeze dried coffee, but no matter
We can’t be so sure that freeze drying the stuff wouldn’t be an improvement.
…Or first swallowing a handful of habaneros before drinking it.
Like Pascal – I was so offended when I saw the Folger’s commercial – I had to google to see if anyone else was offended.
And, really – Romania is a heck of a lot closer to ‘Constantinople’ than the US – as if ANYONE in Romania would want Folgers.
Oy.
I wonder when the Americans will start filming adds in the poor black neighborhoods of their country…and God knows they are plenty of those here.
As a Romanian I felt deeply offended by these commercials and they do not reflect at all Romania life.
Americans proved again with these commercials how narrow minded they are in viewing the world and other cultures
I am from Romania and live in US and…every time someone is coming over from Europe, all I ask for is coffee and chocolate! Folgers? Never liked it!
I felt very offended by this commercial!
Hmmm, let’s add up. One Romanian( me) quits buying Folgers forever. One can a month at 7.99(average) times 42 years( my life expectancy)equals $4026.96. If 10.000 Romanians take offence from this stupid add and quit buying the shitty coffee, that would add up to 40 mil.I say hurt the sonsofbitches, start an antifolgers campain.
As one who likes to visit Romania and has many Romanian friends, I must say that most of you need to relax with a cup of Folgers Coffee.
The new ad features an American Aid worker receiving a package from America containing Folgers Classic Roast Coffee. The aid worker then proceeds to create a make-shift coffee filter so that he can enjoy a taste of American style coffee in a mountain village of beautiful Romania. Local friends stare at the coffee in total amazement as they have never seen coffee brewed in this manner. They boil the coffee grounds and have a completely different beverage.
I think it is offensive to the Romanian people to call the village “in the backwards frozen tundra of Romania”.
I think it is a sensitive and appropriate commercial respectful of Romania and all the Americans away for the holidays.
Both my parents were (my father has passed away) and are of Romania descent. My mother who is 93 years old was thrilled when she saw the commerical, because the people reminded her of her grandparents and the home they lived in. The only frustrating thing about the commerical was that she has never been able to see which town the commerical was made in. We always seem to miss it by seconds.
I would be very grateful if someone could please tell me which town it is, so I could tell her. Thank you for any information you could provide me with.
I would like to know who are the idiots that created this ad. I would tell them Folger brand is out of my household forever.
If Folger’s marketers are not smart enough and if the owner does not care how the product is promoted, feel sorry for all of you. For sure am not buying Folgers, my money does not pay for insults. I suggest find something appealing (like jobs) to afford to buy your coffee and… the coffee makers… I don’t wont to be mean I admired the american potential (I still do!) but I am disappointed how many are just a failure on the job and because of the corruption they do so much damage in a company
Sorry for you who are offended but you are missing the point of the ad. It is about an American being away from home and getting something he cannot get in RO. When my son was in RO he missed American coffee. He finally got used to Romanian coffee but he would have been thrilled for me to send him a taste of home like that.
Why must people always be looking for something to offend them?
I’m a Romanian living overseas. In the US.
I’ve been thinking a lot about why this and the burger commercial offend me. It does seem unreasonable, I mean a company doesn’t have any duty to portray a truthful image of Romania, or anybody for that matter. We all know that, right? Well, it’s not that simple. Romania find’s itself at a turning point. On the one hand there are the cities, truly European cities, developed with it’s civilized and educated people (that do cover their mouths when they yawn in public transportation), there’s of course the orphans, and then people like my grandparents, living the old way, similar to the peasants in this commercial. What I’m trying to get at is that Romania is still forming it’s identity, it’s in a sense a new country and that ,without knowing, these commercials touch sensitive areas. We, as Romanians, do not need anymore stereotyping, or drawbacks, or exploitations of the “sensational, peculiar”. Those of us who live in other countries understand why, because it happens to us all the time.
Romania is trying to create it’s future, to become and to develop. These campaigns are not helping Romania’s international image. Not at all. Perhaps that’s why were offended.
And exploiting peculiar and defenseless people should be a thing of the past, right?!
By the way, who exactly would be honored to be called a whopper virgin?
sorry about his last post, I was confused… with all these American commercials about Romanians.