Fixing a ‘Fork Up’: Why Kraft Dinner Launched Mac and Cheese Just for Spoon Users
Should one eat mac and cheese with a spoon or a fork? No, we’re not talking about noodle variants like cavatappi, farfalle or campanelle (which would all deserve a fork), but good old-fashioned macaroni noodles swimming in buttery, cheesy sauce. It’s a tough question! On the one hand, spearing the noodles with a fork is great, because using a fork for pasta just makes sense. But think of the sauce loss! How are tines supposed to compete with a spoon when it comes to holding all that extra flavour? It’s a matter which leads to contentious debate, and one which will likely never be fully settled.
However, thanks to the efforts of Kraft Dinner (KD), the exact breakdown of fork versus spoon users across the country has been revealed. In February, the brand launched a survey which not only discovered that 80% of Canadians eat KD, but that nearly half (43%) prefer to eat it with a spoon - meaning there are 13 million who specifically prefer that utensil. This posed a slight problem. While KD has always believed that its iconic mac and cheese should be eaten in whatever way the maker sees fit, the brand had also been siding with fork users all along - unintentionally - by putting a fork full of pasta on the box… rather than a spoon.
This called for immediate rectification, and that’s where Canadian creative agency Rethink came into play. Helping the brand formally apologise to scoopers across the country, the two released a one page ad in The Globe and Mail and placed OOH across the city, bringing to light this major ‘fork up’. Moreover, they sought to make it up to spoon-users by releasing the limited-time ‘Spoon KD’ - which is the exact same as regular KD, except that the packaging box has a spoon on it, rather than a fork.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with Rethink associate creative directors Nick Noh and Jordan Darnbrough, and Kraft Dinner brand manager Jerome Skeene to learn more about how this apologetic campaign came to life.
LBB> This campaign is super clever! What was the brief, and did you wait for the results of spoon and fork usage before getting started?
Jerome> As Canada’s unofficial official national dish, Kraft Dinner is always looking for new ways to approach trends and engage fans with the brand’s unmistakably cheesy experience. With that said, the brief was fairly simple: prove that nothing is off limits when it comes to satisfying a KD impulse. Rethink has been the creative lead across our major campaigns for many years now, and we knew they were the right partner for this brief. With Spoon KD, together we uncovered the consumer truth that nearly half of KD lovers prefer to scoop (versus spear), and saw a natural opportunity to insert ourselves into this cultural conversation by infusing humour in an unexpected way - especially as KD had unknowingly chosen a side!
Nick> We all know how divisive macaroni and cheese can be. But one conversation we kept seeing and hearing repeatedly was about whether you should eat it with a fork or spoon. However, people weren’t just sharing their thoughts - they were intensely debating over their favourite utensil’s supremacy. Frankly, we didn’t really know what to do with the conversation until we stumbled upon something that had been right in front of us. Despite this utensil divide, KD only had a fork on its box, in its ads, and basically everywhere for over 50 years. With so many people preferring to eat it with a spoon, we knew we had to do something about it.
LBB> Speaking of results, tell us about the research process! What made now the right time to ask whether a spoon or fork is optimal for eating, and how did you go about surveying?
Jerome> KD knows that Canadians have long held wildly contentious views on how to eat their KD, but one debate is the most contentious of all - should you eat it with a spoon or a fork? While we’ve unknowingly chosen a side by putting forks on every box, we decided to commission a national survey, which revealed that of the 80% of Canadians who eat KD, nearly half (43%) prefer to eat it with a spoon. That’s an astounding 13 million Canadians! With that insight, we decided to make this ‘fork up’ right with the launch of ‘Spoon KD’, a KD designed for the 43% who prefer their noodles scooped.
LBB> Were there any results that surprised you? And were certain parts of the country more inclined to use one piece of cutlery over the other?
Jordan> Maybe it’s because we’ve seen a fork on the box for so long, but many of us figured that forks were the more popular choice by a wide margin. It wasn’t until after seeing the results from our study that we realised there was a strong preference for eating KD with a spoon.
Jerome> Based on our survey results, the country was almost evenly split on their utensil usage, across the board.
LBB> How long did it take to develop the new Spoon KD box, and what was the design process like?
Jordan> Our goal was to make it just about the utensil. Everything else about the product is already perfect. So, we made the smallest change we could by moving the noodles from a fork to a spoon and changing nothing else on the packaging. The process included us printing all of the new boxes, incorporating them into the existing production line, and then shipping them nationwide to grocery stores across the country… Maybe it wasn’t such a small change after all.
LBB> Let’s talk about the spot itself. How was the production process, where did you shoot, and do you have any interesting stories or anecdotes from on location?
Nick> We shot the video in Montreal, where the population has a diverse mix of english and french speakers, so that we could get a mix of all kinds of Canadians. We invited real people to join us, but purposefully didn’t tell them that they were there to try a new product. We wanted to give them a little surprise, and as you can see in the video, some people liked it, and others, well, not so much.
LBB> How did you select these people? And did you do anything special to ensure a balanced number of pro-spoon and pro-fork consumers?
Jordan> We made sure that everyone we featured was a real person and not an actor. The only criteria we set was that everyone had to love KD. Before the shoot, we had a very brief Zoom call with them to ask them about their utensil preference, just to ensure we’d have some opinions either way. We kept everything else a secret until shoot day. There’s such an even split between fork and spoon eaters that if you get a group of people together, you’re likely going to find that there’s a solid mix of both types of people and differences of opinions. It’s something we found out firsthand in the meetings we had over the course of the project.
LBB> How did you choose which bits to keep for the spot, and were there any great reactions that didn’t make it into the video?
Nick> Honestly, it was a very fun shoot and we could have easily had a 30-minute long video with all of the responses we got. One thing that stood out was how a handful of the fork eaters actually asked for a fork when we asked them to try Spoon KD with a spoon. You’ve got to respect their commitment to sticking with their preferred utensil.
LBB> The bit where people try to talk about the difference of Spoon KD is hilarious. Did you ask them to try and guess the difference without telling them?
Jordan> We anticipated it might happen, but were surprised at just how many people convinced themselves there was a difference. You could say we created a kind of placebo effect! We only told them it was a new product, so when we asked them for their thoughts on it, many of them actually believed there was something new about it, when, in reality, it’s exactly the same KD they’ve been eating for years.
LBB> To address a question at the end of the spot, is it appropriate to put ketchup on KD?
Jerome> We believe there is no wrong way to eat KD. We celebrate Canadians eating KD exactly how they want - ketchup, hot dogs, veggies - you do you!
LBB> How long was the post process, and what was that like?
Nick> The post process was relatively quick. The most challenging part was sifting through all the responses to see different combinations, and exploring what personalities played best off of each other. But by far the hardest part was deciding which moments to leave on the cutting room floor. Insert cruel creative metaphor about drowning and killing things.
LBB> The one page ad in the Globe and Mail and the OOH ads are both super fun! How did people respond, and as a whole, what did it take to make these aspects happen?
Jordan> To us, there was only one way to do a big, tongue-in-cheek corporate apology, and that’s with a full-page ad. It made it all the more fun to do it for something so ridiculous, and it was a great way to poke fun at the trope.
Moreover, the response was great! Spoon eaters took to social media to let us know they were overjoyed that we were making it right, while fork eaters were quick to let us know their disappointment.
Nick> We wanted the OOH to act as an announcement to Canadians, so we made the headlines big and bold to call out that there was finally a KD just for spoon-eaters. The box itself was placed front and centre because, at the idea’s core, it’s all about the change to the packaging. It creates a nice reveal because at first glance it just looks like the same blue box we’ve all known for years, but upon closer inspection, you notice that the utensil has changed.
LBB> What challenges have you faced during this project? How did you overcome them?
Jordan> It may appear like a small change, but there’s no such thing as a small change when it comes to mass production. We’ve put millions of boxes of Spoon KD into production, so we had to work very closely with Kraft Heinz to make sure we could print, produce and ship all of the new product in time for launch.
LBB> What lessons have you learned from the making of this campaign?
Nick> We can often shy away from sharing ideas that seem like they’re impossible. Mass-producing an entirely new packaging design isn’t easy, and it’s definitely not fast, but we took a shot and put it on the table and full credit goes to our clients at Kraft Heinz. They jumped at the opportunity and made it happen.
LBB> How have people responded to this campaign?
Jordan> The response has been excellent. It’s not often you do something that results in the full spectrum of emotions like this has. We’ve seen everything from total elation to utter outrage, and everything in between. It’s been very fun to watch how it’s taken on a life of its own as the debate over how to eat KD has been reignited, and it really is a testament to how passionate people are about KD, with one simple change creating a memorable experience for fans of the brand.
Jerome> Canadians are undoubtedly passionate about how they eat their favourite cheesy noodles, and the launch of Spoon KD has made this even more apparent, especially with ongoing support across social media, where we’ve seen strong engagement on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit. We’re thrilled to bring KD lovers together over the launch of this especially scoopable offer, and look forward to seeing the conversation continue.
LBB> How does this campaign fit into Kraft Dinner’s platform for 2023?
Jerome> As a brand that values satisfying hunger cravings, we are always looking to provide our consumers with unique and innovative ways to enjoy KD. Whether it is a bold new flavour, a convenient snack-sized cup, or a package that fits into each individual's eating habits, we’re constantly listening to our fan’s needs and looking for innovative ways to engage our fans through unmistakable experiences.
We also encourage Canadians to do their own taste test and share which tastes better - new Spoon KD or original fork KD - by commenting on our twitter (@kraftdinner_ca) and using ‘#SpoonKD’.
LBB> Should KD be eaten with a fork or a spoon?
Nick> For a team that just went through a months-long process to put a spoon on the box, you’d be surprised at just how many fork eaters there are among us.
Jerome> We’ve always said that there is no one way to eat KD, but knowing how much our fans crave their favourite comfort food, some might say it tastes better with a spoon.
