Starburst juicy hit climbs the music charts Lara Sinclair
“BOY, you should be knowin’… I’ll get your juices goin’…”
Heard that catchy new single from Starburst? I’ve got the CD (RRP $4.95) right here. Wonder who wrote it? Effem Foods. Hmmm…
The clues were there for those who could read the signs.
First there was the relaunch of Mars subsidiary Effem Foods’ Starburst confectionery brand three years ago with TVCs featuring ageing pop guru Molly Meldrum talking about a hot “emerging group”.
Last year there were ads in the Seven Network’s Popstars program spoofing the process of putting together a pop group.
Then this week, the single “Get your juices going” from Starburst debuted on the charts at number 37 as a “bullet performer” (www.aria.com.au/singles).
The music video, 3.5 minutes of catchy pop tune mixed with truly awful fruit puns, both lyrical and visual, mixed with faceless dancers mimicking a band on set, is set to screen on Network Ten’s Video Hits music video program tomorrow.
TVCs promoting the single look like a curious cross between ads for a single and ads for Starburst confectionery.
D’Arcy Australia CD Mark Collis, who penned some of the lyrics to the song for former client Mars, says the fact that the song has gone to number 37 on the charts is “fucking brilliant”.
“It was a natural progression from the [Popstars campaign] to do a single,” Collis says. “If the [spoof] Popstars had created a band, it’s what they would have done. We’ve owned the whole music thing [for Starburst].
“Three to four weeks from now a commercial will go out saying, you’ve bought the single, now buy the lollies.
“Our aim is just to generate more hype again around the brand.”
The single may generate more hype than expected once it’s commonly known that Starburst is a brand of lollies—nothing more.
Collis, who coincidentally designed the Starburst lips logo that adorns the “Get your juices going” CD while at Grey in London three years ago, is claiming the single, which has had strong airplay on radio stations such as Nova 96.9 Sydney, is a first.
Hasn’t cost much in radio ads either: Collis says the record company Warner/Chappell sold it into the radio stations as ‘editorial’.
Collis has been involved in other Australian advertising firsts, notably the two-second Stoli interstitials he was involved with at Leo Burnett before joining D’Arcy and the Mars “Earth” campaign (see B&T Weekly, September 6).
“It’s a novel approach, it’s refreshing as opposed to just the conventional advertising approach.”
He says while people who have been “sucked in” by the single—including the radio stations—might be “a bit peeved”, the video clip is a “legitimising factor”.
“It is legitimate. It’s all a bit of fun. We’ve written and produced this song because we thought it was a great idea,” he says.
“I can’t believe we’ve got a hit single. Clemengers have got this [account] now.”
Credits: Agency D’Arcy Australia, national creative director Mark Collis, senior art director Mark Collis/Jason Williams, writer Michael Mulcahy, client Kenman Kandy, producer Cinnamon Darvall, production company Famous by Tuesday, director Mark Hartley, producer David Barrett, DOP Garry Richards, editor Sara Edwards, animation Momentum Animation, animation producer Dylan Perry, music company Peppermint Blue.
