Oscar Mayer's #FrontYardCookout: A great idea which could be more?

May. It’s only days away. It’s a time when the showers have faded. The mercury rises. Portable chairs pop, along with ice cold cans. Friends and family gather in backyards and around picnic tables and the sizzle of the grill…

You can almost taste it. But, of course, we can’t. Not really.

Enter Oscar Mayer and its #FrontYardGrill campaign. While insights and strategy can sometimes be a complicated Pandora’s Box, nobody ever said it always had to be rocket science. Nor does a simple idea make it any less savvy. This one is obvious and smart.

With Corona still lingering, the backyard BBQ as we know it is on indefinite hold (or at least it should be). Yet, folks are still managing to connect — even in the outside world. I’ve noticed it in my community. Neighbors dragging lawn chairs to driveway edges to share a beer from across the street. High school friends laying blankets in opposite corners of yards to grab lunch and scream-chat. Church parking lot “tailgates” from afar.

Oscar Meyer put it all together and gave it a name…right in time for the traditional BBQ season.

Oscar Mayer

The image above says it all. Bring the grill out front. Connect with neighbors. Put some dogs on. Do it all for a good cause. Bonus points if you live in a cul-de-sac. Here are the mechanics of the promotion which was announced yesterday, now provided in a brand tweet.

The call-to-action for consumers to share their photos and the hashtag on Saturday, May 2, coincides with the day Oscar Mayer makes a significant donation to Feeding America. There will be a TV spot and all that jazz too.

Here’s the deal with a big caveat…I don’t know what will come out in the coming weeks in support of this campaign. However, my first take is that this is a smart idea that could be exponentially amplified if the (ahem) appetite was there. In the style of Zach Lowe’s “Things I Like and Dislike,” although I’m not going all the way to 10.

Like

1 . The FrontYardCookout: Smart, sensible and the chance to become a “thing” that your name gets attached to.

2. Call for Content: Brands are in need of content. Shoots aren’t happening. Studios are closed. Travel is restricted. The smart brands are using programs like this to do double and triple duty. You can bet there’s some fine print about all those front yard photos folks submit.

3. The Static Ad Visual: Something cool/interesting/different about the overhead cul-de-sac-cam shot. Speaks to a cultural moment and communicates the concept differently.

4. No Need for a Heavy Lift: This is a campaign built for this moment in time. Aside from the monetary donations (which, yes, are significant), you don’t need millions for a shoot, big TV buy or related retail partnerships with this one. There’s an opportunity to make hay with simple social tactics.

Dislike

1. ”The Spot”: The :30 second commercial follows exactly the script you’d expect from Oscar Mayer around this idea and a Feeding America partnership. It doesn’t quite have the somber piano music intro, but it falls short of putting an optimistic spin on things…which I think there was an opportunity to do tastefully.

2. Personality: Where is it? Again, it’s the flip side of my #4 like. Any classic American-a celebs or noteworthy influencers to give this a punch? Any way to lighten up the vibe, perhaps connect more with a younger audience?

3. Shareability: If you’re going to go this route, why not build some more easy-to-use tools? Create an invitation template. Allow Americans to sign up as host or guest and share details, invite others, rally a block…and, wait, maybe even buy those Oscar Mayer supplies online? Not hard to do and spurs the pass-along and engagement (times a lot).

That’s where we’re falling on this one. Big fan of the concept. Withholding final judgment on the execution. With some smart dollars, this can seemingly be much more and take on a different feel in the process. Or maybe it doesn’t need to at all? We can only wait and see.

Until then, meet you out front?