Garlic Fest in Target’s marketing bullseye
July 23, 2011 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
A recent TV advertisement for Target featuring two people eating a generic “garlic ice cream” at an equivocal “garlic festival” has Gilroyans singing praises for their hometown; leaving comments on YouTube such as “born and raised in Gilroy and the timing couldn’t be better for this commercial! July 29th, 30th 31st — See you there!”
However, the word “Gilroy” doesn’t actually appear anywhere in the clip — a minor detail indicative of Target’s cautious tiptoeing around branding legalities.
Nevertheless, Brian Bowe, executive director of the Gilroy Garlic Festival, thinks the ad is “pretty darn funny.”
As for whether the commercial was actually filmed during a past Gilroy Garlic Festival, “the popular consensus among those of us who critically analyzed it say it wasn’t ours,” said Bowe, who added jokingly, “but we’ll take full credit for it anyway.”
The Garlic Festival Association is pretty familiar with its own signs and backgrounds, he pointed out, and experts say Target’s take isn’t the real thing.
Still, Bowe said the association has received cheerful feedback and Facebook postings from all over the country. People seem to be getting a kick out the unofficial hail to the Garlic Capital, he said.
In response to whether or not the association would have sought royalties, had Target shot a commercial on location during the legitimate Gilroy Garlic Festival, “publicity is a good thing,” Bowe reminded.
Copyright (c) 2011, The Gilroy Dispatch
