Looks like a Steggles advertising campaign has nailed it, sensitively capturing Australia’s cultural diversity while delivering authentic, compelling stories about how a chicken dinner unites us, serving up universal aspirations about love and family – without schmaltz.
It wins where the bombastic jingoism of the clowning lamb ads lose, appealing to purchasers rather than a comedy audience.
The ads feature six contemporary middle-class Australian domestic settings, voiced over by a caring family member giving the back story to a particular dish. They neatly then with a genuine narrative connect the food with some of the most attractive emotional aspects of experiencing food.
The hook line is about quality time being meal time for families in all their shapes and sizes, and it works well, seems achievable, against the backdrop of time-poor modern life and the wide affection for the vibe food and cooking shows bring to our screens.
“Quality time has never been more important to Aussie families, yet we’re finding it increasingly difficult to make time for the ones we love,” the company says.
“As advocates for quality time, Steggles is encouraging people to come together at meal time and celebrate with recipes that bring people closer together using Australia’s favourite meat (chicken).”
To reinforce the hook line and add value to the campaign, a psychologist with some profile has been commissioned to talk to us about how families can get the most out of meal. It’s all good stuff.
Psychologist Clare Rowe says we have long known about benefits of families sharing regular meals together.
“Not only do they provide a wonderful setting for teaching children better eating habits, but they role model positive social skills and tactics such as mindful listening and prioritising quality time,” Dr Rowe says.
“Family mealtimes are an opportunity to press pause on life’s busy and demanding schedule and reconnect with each other, find out how each other is feeling, share thoughts and ideas and of course share a laugh or two.
“Investing time in shared family meals also provides family members, especially the young ones, with a strong sense of belonging and connectedness.”
There’s more about how families can get the most out meal time this Christmas (great timing), notes about taking breaks from tech, prioritising family time and creating family traditions.
And while cooking a family dinner can be daunting for some, few things are easier to cook than a roast chicken and so the campaign provides recipes for that and more.
