Pop Psychology: Ready-Made Popcorn Gains On Microwave Brands
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Microwaves and popcorn have been linked forever — or at least since 1946, when kernels were one of the first items zapped by the appliance's inventor, Percy Spencer. By the 1980s, microwave popcorn was all the rage, marketed by brands like Micro-Pop, whose ads declared that “you shouldn't have to wait for great-tasting popcorn.” But today even a few minutes might be too long for some consumers, whose obsession for convenient eating is sparking growth in the ready-to-eat, or pre-popped, segment.
Consider Orville Redenbacher's. Long known for its microwavable offerings, the ConAgra brand is moving aggressively into ready-to-eat, including breaking a campaign for its “Pop Crunch” bagged popcorn launched earlier this year. Ads by Venables Bell & Partners feature a talking crow and are set at mythical Orville headquarters building in the middle of a corn field. The product is described as “air popped for half the fat of regular potato chips.”
The push follows the marketer's foray into ready-to-eat — its “Gourmet” line hit stores last year. “Microwave popcorn at its inception was all about convenience, having only to wait three minutes to get warm, delicious popcorn,” said Colleen Bailey, Orville's brand director. But “as times have changed, the definition of convenience has changed.”
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