Quietly tucked away, in the moments before kick-off, “Mean” Joe Greene returned to the Super Bowl this year. In a new ad for Downy, the former football pro reprised his role from the classic Coca-Cola commercial that originally aired in 1980. Only this time, Greene is sniffing fabric freshener instead of gulping Coke.
Created for the Coca-Cola Company, the first “Mean” Joe Greene spot appeared in Super Bowl XIV in 1980. In that commercial, a starry-eyed boy offers his Coke to the injured defensive tackle, “Mean” Joe Greene. The refreshing Coke prompts a smile from the intimidating Steeler and he tosses the boy his game jersey.
The Downy spot is also charming and witty. Using strong story-telling that includes celebrity and humor, it maintains its freshness by an engaging “twist” that has Greene’s fan played by funny gal Amy Sedaris, who says thanks- but-no-thanks to his sweaty, stinky game jersey.
Regardless of whether people know who Greene was, when he played, or how he earned his nickname, the powerful story-telling framework lends itself to continuous adaption and successive callbacks. The host of “Mean Joe Greene” remakes over the years has ranged from adaptations in which other countries’ star athletes play Greene’s role to references in popular television to a number of parodies.
In one of the most unexpected, Coca-Cola competitor, Pepsi, offered up its own twist. David Beckham, then with Manchester United, trudges off the field following a particularly rough match. He requests a sip from a young fan’s Pepsi. Before David walks off, the boy requests his game jersey. As it turns out, the young boy just needs to wipe off the rim of his can before continuing to enjoy the drink himself!
In another charming take, the Coca-Cola Company revisited “Mean Joe Greene” in Pittsburgh Steeler, Troy Palomalu. This time, a young fan tries to offer Palomalu his Coke Zero, only to have it intercepted by Coke brand managers who claim the newest addition to the Coca-Cola family has stolen Coke’s taste.
The Coke, Downy, Pepsi, and Coke Zero reincarnations of the original “Mean” Joe Greene spot show that a well-told story can be a powerful means of strengthening brand meaning with consumers. Effective story-telling influences underlying beliefs through a process called Transportation. “Stories sell,” not only through well-known recall and persuasion devices like benefit-centric messaging, creditable support, and news, which target cognitive processing, but also through transportation devices like character identification, empathizing, and narrative flow, which target deep seated beliefs towards the featured brand or promoted behavior. What makes “Mean” Joe Greene so special, both as a commercial and as the model for so many successful progeny, is that it accomplishes all of those things, achieving both short- and long-term effects.
To learn more about about measuring audience response to narrative advertising, visit G&R’s Transportation Research page.
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