Snickers' Snacklish? Umm, I'll Stick to English, Thanks

In these tough economic times, Snickers is vying to win some new customers with their lighthearted "Snacklish" ads. Haven't seen 'em? Take a gander at this snaxi:




Kinda creative, right? They go downhill from here.




Chewniversity? Really?




Patrick Chewing... get it?

It's like they're trying to be creative -- with emphasis on the trying. The ads don't make me laugh; they make me cringe. Why? Because Snickers wants you to visit a "peanutarium." Oh, and and remember Master P? He's now "Master P-nut."

These miss the mark by a mile. I picture a bunch of older, out-of-touch execs brainstorming these phrases and thinking they are SOOO the next big thing... when I feel my eight-year-old sister could outwit them.

The only way this campaign can be saved: Employ the witticisms of customers. Though not as heavily as with the Skittles campaign, Snickers.com leans on social networking, namely Facebook. The Snickers page allows users to upload their own "Snacklish" phrase. My two cents: If they want this whole lingo thing to work, they better start combing that site for some decent phrases. Until then, I'm sticking to English.

Photos courtesy of:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/business/media/03adco.html
http://www.bizzia.com/behindthebuzz/tag/snickers-snacklish/
http://daviddoctorrose.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/snacklish-and-patrick-chewing/