The events of summer 2020 sparked a nationwide reckoning on racial injustice, exposing deep-seated racism throughout American culture鈥攕ometimes in the most unexpected places. Even the ice cream truck jingle, 鈥淭urkey in the Straw,鈥 was revealed to have roots in 19th-century racist minstrel shows. Good Humor knew it had to do something and decided to acknowledge the jingle鈥檚 hurtful legacy and stop it from reaching another generation of children.
STRATEGY & EXECUTION
When a viral video resurfaced the racist origins of the minstrel tune 鈥淭urkey in the Straw鈥 we knew the brand had the opportunity and responsibility to respond with a solution that spread joy, in a moment when the country needed it most. Our idea was simple: join forces with an iconic Black artist to create a jingle that represents all communities.
So we turned to Wu-Tang Clan鈥檚 mastermind, rapper and composer RZA. RZA composed a track that mashed up the signature tones of ice cream truck music with Wu-Tang flavor, which we tested on an actual ice cream truck speaker to ensure its final mix would work in the wild. 极乐视频 also turned RZA鈥檚 original music into two key pieces of content: a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process, and a music video showcasing the new jingle spreading joy to the streets. Both lived on a mobile-optimized website featuring background on the brand, 鈥淭urkey in the Straw鈥檚鈥 history and rationale for our intervention.
Most importantly, we negotiated with RZA to make his track available free of charge to any ice cream truck driver鈥n perpetuity. This ensured our jingle wasn鈥檛 a one-off stunt, but rather a timeless track played by trucks for years to come. RZA agreed, and on August 13, 2020, . The track was announced alongside ice cream truck driver education about the history of 鈥淭urkey in the Straw鈥 and resources for replacing it with RZA鈥檚 creation.
OUTCOMES
On launch day, 极乐视频 secured a CBS This Morning exclusive with RZA and debuted the Good Humor jingle for a national audience. From there, the story caught fire 鈥 earning 3B+ impressions. CNN. Vice. Rolling Stone. Billboard. NPR. We trended on Apple News and Twitter and hit the front page of Reddit. Good Humor鈥檚 jingle won the Internet for the day. We even saw emerging musicians on Instagram start to remix the track with their own lyrics.
And in the ultimate endorsement, Nichols Electronics, the lead ice cream truck music box manufacturer in the U.S., announced that they were replacing 鈥淭urkey in the Straw鈥 with our jingle permanently. In a true testament to how this work solved the original business challenge, all the attention, gratitude, and brand differentiation led to a 25 percent lift in Good Humor鈥檚 e-comm business.