“It’s time to ‘gobble’ up savings with these great Black Friday deals! You don’t want to be caught ‘winging’ it this Thanksgiving!”
Don’t get us wrong, we love a well-cooked pun. But it gets old when we’re force-fed the same leftovers year after year.
Regardless of how excited we are for Thanksgiving, we most definitely aren’t looking forward to the seemingly endless stream of Turkey Day ads in preparation for the marketing mad dash to the finish line that is the “Holiday Season.”
And yet, if you’re a business, you’d be crazy not to try to muscle in on the Thanksgiving gravy train. After all, your business shouldn’t play side dish to someone else’s turkey, right?
But that doesn’t mean you have to deliver up the same thing everyone else has done before.
Here are three great video ideas to consider for next Thanksgiving that’ll have your sales team shouting, “Call us hot butter, because we’re on a roll!” in no time.
What Are the Un-Grateful Traditions that Tell a Great Story?
Whether it’s a political dogfight that erupts around the table, or a family brawl in the backyard over whose turn it was at Bocce, we’ve all got those stories of the time Thanksgiving was a bit nutsy – and drove us crazy!
In some ways, the telling of the ridiculous family Thanksgiving antics becomes a Thanksgiving tradition in its own right.
So how do you tap into this cranberry-sauce-themed insanity? Easy: Make a Top [5] Thanksgiving Family Antics video that everyone can relate to in some way.
It’s fun. It’s quirky. And it makes you stand out from all the cliché Thanksgiving videos out there.
There are plenty of variations on this idea too. You can discuss pet peeves, offer tips on how to prevent Thanksgiving calamities, or offer up advice on how to broker the perfect Thanksgiving peace treaty. (We recommend pie. LOTS of pie.)
So, don’t be afraid to take a different approach to the normal Thanksgiving videos. Your market might just find your message more relatable.
Happy Thanksgiving (Hold the Turkey)
Thanksgiving has a pretty rigid formula at this point.
Cook the turkey, mash the taters, uncork the wine, mix the stuffing, greet the relatives, etc.
Advertising tends to rely on this familiar chain of events all too often. But, what if you could offer something new to spice up the party?
Contrary to prevailing opinion, not everyone has turkey for Thanksgiving. (Gasp!) Good recipes for alternative dishes are hard to come by, and if you can create something unique, it puts you that much further ahead of the competition in terms of visibility. Not only will you reach a wider audience, but your business may also seem more relatable.
Know anyone who skips the turkey in favor of roast duck in a delectable citrus sauce? Maybe you go international for Thanksgiving and make a mean rice pilaf with almonds and raisins.
Whatever your go-to turkey substitute, demonstrating you can shake it up goes a long way in helping your video stick out better than a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Pranksgiving!
Ok, so this one might seem a bit juvenile, but who doesn’t love some good harmless fun?
One of our staff members mentioned a story about how their father and uncle used to play this game during Thanksgiving. Their great aunt had given the boys a “gift” of a small bag containing a handful of peanuts (in true Aunt Bethany Christmas Vacation style).
Neither of them wanted it, so they did the next best thing: Tried to trick each other into taking it. As they got older, they would attempt to hide the bag of peanuts (now nothing but crumbled dust) amongst the other’s belongings. Whoever ended up taking the peanuts home was declared the loser of that year’s round. As our coworker tells it, the game is still afoot.
Do you or your employees have their own annual Thanksgiving-day pranks? Why not create a video that highlights a few lighthearted gags to get your target laughing? You can even turn it into a company tradition like the two boys did with the bag of peanuts.
But it doesn’t need to involve your family or coworkers.
Jeff Wysaski produced a series of fake Black Friday ads featuring fake Target items which he then posted in one of their stores. Wysaski’s ads went viral, drawing humorous attention to Target during the Black Friday season. Despite being a prank completely independent of Target, it ended up generating positive publicity for them.
The best part about prank videos is they’re both novel and fun. If that doesn’t cut through all the Thanksgiving GOBBLEdygook (yeah, we hate ourselves for writing that one), then nothing will.
By the way, Stealth has garnished its fair share of Turkey Day media content. We’ll make sure your video won’t ever be seen as small potatoes.
Need help adding some flavor to your Thanksgiving videos? Drop us a line, and we’ll see what we can cook up for you.
We’ll be back offering you more great tips next time we go Off the Radar following a brief after-dinner nap.
Oh, and….Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Stealth Creative!
