Why Philadelphia Made a Cream Cheese 200x Hotter than Jalapeños
On Friday the 13th, the gates of hell opened in Toronto. And while there wasn’t a demon army in waiting, nor the streets did not crack due to the sheer heat of the underworld, the blazing spiciness of Philadelphia Cream Cheese’s ‘A Little Taste of Hell’ was enough to make even the fiercest spice-lovers repent their ways. Measuring in at 1,041,427 Scoville heat units (208 times hotter than jalapeños), the limited-time offering was made available via Uber Eats to anyone in ‘The Six’, all for the inexpensive (but very fitting) price of $6.66.
Delivered in an ominous all-black kit featuring a waiver that warned against tears, and a pair of gloves for safe smearing, this departure from the brand’s traditionally-used ‘angelic’ marketing was designed by creative agency Rethink, and was accompanied by fiery graphics, as well as a heavy metal spot featuring footage of the foolhardy coughing, cussing and crying their way into spice-lover’s infamy.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with Rethink associate creative directors Jordan Darnbrough and Nick Noh, and Philadelphia Cream Cheese senior brand manager Keenan White, to discuss how this ‘spicy’ campaign came to life, and why, as with all things, the devil truly is in the details.
LBB> The super-spicy cream cheese for Friday the 13th is so fitting! What was the brief like, and why was moving away from Philadelphia’s ‘angelic’ branding the right approach for this campaign?
Keenan> As a consumer-obsessed leader in the cream cheese category, PHILLY is always looking for new ways to approach trends and engage our fans with the brand’s unique, sensorial experience. We hear and see our consumers, and brief our teams to always do the same. Knowing millennials and gen z have a strong preference for spicy foods, we looked to get these spicy food connoisseurs fired up and open to a challenge by bringing them one of the spiciest cream cheeses in Canadian history through PHILLY’s ‘A Little Taste…
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