Michelina’s

The challenge: revitalize a brand on a five-year sales slide whose only real equity was a cheesy pop song, “The Macarena.”

Michelina’s target, the post-university/college male, is not interested in ingredients or health. As one guy said in research, “I want to eat. I don’t want to cook.”

So John St. gave him a cook: a thick-accented Italian mama. “Let Mama Feed You” was a multimedia campaign that introduced Mama in two TV spots: “The Wall” and “Takedown.”

Concurrently, John St. launched a Facebook profile page where the target could check out photo albums of Mama at a bachelorette party, an improv class and an impromptu foosball championship. Mama’s 700+ friends were invited to play online games, respond to discussion topics and watch her vlog rants about recording Oprah on her PVR and why pop starlets refuse to wear underwear.

Mama was parodied on Royal Canadian Air Farce and featured on Breakfast Television, and made Top Favourites on YouTube. The campaign has gone global, and Michelina’s has put “Let Mama Feed You” on its packaging in the U.S. Tracking indicates that Mama is well on her way to burying the “Macarena” legacy for good: in three months, “Mama” beats “Macarena” mentions among those who recall Michelina’s advertising.