Ore-Ida Promotes Its Tater Tots Legacy
Kraft Heinz launched an effort this month to bring its Ore-Ida brand — the creator of Tater Tots — into consumers’ minds when they’re shopping for meal sides.
The brand is promoting its "Ore-Ida or Nothing" campaign through its largest marketing investment to date. Starring actor and comedian Keegan-Michael Key, the campaign kicked off with Key behind home plate at a New York Yankees baseball game surrounded by "lookalike" imitators to spark curiosity for fans in the stadium and watching from home.
Developed in partnership with Rethink, the integrated effort features Key in 12 spots running across TV, online and social platforms.
The first one is dubbed “imi-taters” — with Key in the center of other iterations of himself as a sea captain, fitness instructor, Gen Z influencer and others. (See video below.)
The brand uses humor and theater throughout to illustrate its heritage of innovation and quality, reminding consumers to choose the original frozen potato brand.
“As the inventor of Tater Tots, we’ve spent decades setting the standard for what great potatoes should taste like,” Claire Lukaszewski, Ore-Ida’s senior brand manager, said in a news release. “With ‘Ore-Ida or Nothing,’ we’re reminding consumers of something we can say with confidence: Ore-Ida out-potatoes all other potatoes.”
The campaign aims to boost brand loyalty and awareness among younger shoppers with 15-second vignettes.
“This campaign allowed me to do what I love most — dive in and create some really fun characters,” said Key. “That’s what made creating these ‘imi-taters’ so fun. They can come close, but are never as good as the original, which is exactly what makes Ore-Ida stand out.”
Ore-Ida was founded in 1952 by the Grigg brothers, who invented Tater Tots by repurposing the remaining potato pieces from French fry production.
