Give ‘Em Ragu App Launch

I am happy to have been chosen to take part in the launch of the Ragu Long Day of Childhood campaign surrounding the release of their Give ‘Em Ragu online and mobile app!

As part of the campaign, Ragu allows everyday parents (like me) to visually share our children’s “problems” by uploading our own personal videos or photos.  These images are then seamlessly woven throughout the Give ‘Em Ragu promo spot, with the same professional jingle and authentic voice over!

The Give ‘Em Ragu app can be accessed via:

iPhone: Go to iTunes and search for Give’ Em Ragu

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ragusauce/app_185445561580086

Android:  launches today, 12/3!

 

Background on the Ragu Long Day of Childhood Campaign:

Back in August, Ragu unveiled 6 television spots that each illustrate how the pasta sauce is adopting an “innovative and funnier marketing approach that creates less utilitarian, and more playful, advertising for its food products. “

The on-air ad campaign, appropriately titled “Long Day of Childhood,” highlights embarrassing childhood moments and offers a way to soothe them later — with the ultimate comfort food, a Ragu-covered bowl of pasta.

“We are trying to use humor as a way to create emotional attachment,” said Mike Dwyer, Unilever’s United States foods director, explaining Ragu’s approach. “We want to have more fun with the family dynamic and draw on the trials and tribulations of childhood.”

“Kids undergo a lot of things in a day. Some are funny and others are not,” Mr. Dwyer said. “But one of the ways that parents can comfort their children is at mealtime.”  I totally agree. For my family, dinnertime has become one of our only daily opportunities to kick back, relax, and reflect on the day – the good and the bad.

In addition to cable and network prime time, the ads also run on the Ragu YouTube channel. The first ad, which shows a young boy entering his parents’ bedroom without knocking (at the WRONG  time),  has attracted more than one million views on YouTube.

I was very curious to try out this app, especially with all of the media hype surrounding the tv spots.

Note: While the app allows users the opportunity to custom create our own :30 Give ‘Em Ragu promo spot, if you’re unfamiliar with the current on-air campaign, you’ll completely miss the underlying messaging to this app.

What to do:

I easily downloaded the free app to my iphone.

Creating the video is simple:

• You’re given the opportunity to choose any video or images from your Facebook page or your own photo library.
• Then you simply drop in the footage to create a storyboard.
• You’re then prompted to write a one sentence descriptor for your visual “story.”   Based on this information, the app creates your own version of the Give ‘Em Ragu promo spot.

I was definitely frustrated that I couldn’t manipulate the specific words in the jingle.  Because you only get one sentence to tell your story, often times the words in the jingle don’’t accurately reflect what’s featured on the screen so there’s a disconnect (see my promo spot below).

However, that certainly didn’t stop me from playing with this app for at least 20 minutes!  It gets addictive. I made many videos and so did my 10-year old daughter!

The best part? You get a produced promo spot immediately.  There’s no waiting.  No rough drafts and edits.  Is there anything more satisfying than instant gratification?

And, with just the click of a button, you can share your new video to either your Facebook or You Tube account!

Check out some of my spots:

 

My first spot highlights my daughter working in a food assembly line to try  help the package food bags for the victims of Hurricane Sandy:

 

My second spot is totally random.   I was hoping to illustrate the frustrations a child feels when learning how to read but, you can see how the words to the song don’t sync up to the images on screen (still fun to watch though):

The third video was custom-created by my 10 year old while she was walking on the street:

 

So, what are you waiting for?

Go on, time to download the app and share your Give ‘Em Ragu Long Day of Childhood stories now…..

 

Disclaimer:  While I was compensated for writing this post on behalf of Circle of Moms and Ragu, all opinions expressed are always my own!