“Once you eat a Slim Jim

anything is possible”

Todd Gonzales
Marketing Research Analyst
 Slim Jim

Table of Contents
Unleash your Spicy Side ...3

Bulls Eye ...4

Champion of the World …5

Living Life on the Edge …6

Live the Dream …7

Unusually Clever …8

Snap into a Slim Jim …9

Observations …9

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“Unleash your Spicy

side
While watching an episode of WWE Monday Night Raw, a show
that runs two hours long, there was roughly 25 minutes of
commercial advertisements. (That’s nearly one fourth of the
show). There were approximately 20 various commercials
throughout the broadcast, including one that aired three
times. Why would someone seek such high frequency in such a
short amount of time? The answer is simple; it’s the easiest
way to reach their target market.

During Slim Jims 30 second commercial two young boys, around

12 years old, approach a castle on top of a mountain
appropriately titled “Somewhere Awesome”. Upon entering, WWE
Superstar Edge is sitting on a thrown surrounded by Slim Jims
with the beautiful Bella Twins on each side of him. Edge asks
the young boys what they seek and they state that they want
to unleash their spicy side (this is the new advertising
slogan for Slim Jim in which a miniature version of you does
something wild and unexpected). Edge then informs the boys
“Once you eat a Slim Jim anything is possible.” After this
statement the two boy’s imaginations run wild. They imagine
eating Slim Jims in order to release their “spicy side” which
allows for them to become karate masters that take on a group
of ninjas. After defeating the ninjas and realizing that they
really can do anything after eating a Slim Jim, they dream of
becoming WWE Champions.

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Bulls Eye
Slim Jim hit the bull’s eye in choosing television as their
main medium to reach their target market of young males.
Using television allows for Slim Jim to specifically target
young males through multiple channels. Not many children are
reading magazines or the newspaper, but they are watching TV,
and lots of it. According to sciencedaily.com 60% of
teenagers are spending an average of 20 hours or more per
week watching TV. Even though advertising on TV has a
relatively high total cost the cost per thousand viewers is
rather low. By using the television as their main medium Slim
Jim has the ability to immediately distribute their message.

Slim Jim has found previous success in using the WWE universe
as their vehicle with their past advertising with “Macho Man”
Randy Savage. Now they turn their attention to the “Rated R
Superstar” Edge in order to appeal to their target market.

61% of WWE wrestling fans are male. This commercial targets

the male demographic through multiple channels. One way is by
featuring the Bella twins. Two attractive twin sisters are
sure to catch the eyes of men all over the globe, no matter
what their age. Also 15% of viewers are within the ages of
12-17, although this might not seem like a lot, Raw has an

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average of 6 million viewers each Monday. Slim Jims main

target market is the male children within the ages of 12 and
17. This commercial appeals to them by featuring two kids
within that range that dream of being WWE Superstars. By
knowing these demographics Slim Jim can work to specifically
target the young males that watch wrestling through audience
selectivity.

Champion of the World

Slim Jim developed multiple advertising appeals when they
first released the Macho Man Randy Savage commercials in the
early 90’s. Now with a new generation of fans, Slim Jim uses
the same appeals with a different spokesperson. An obvious
consumer appeal is admiration. In this ad Slim Jim uses WWE
Superstars in order to appeal to the fans through admiration.
Since WWE has such a loyal fan base, the fans are likely to
try something if a person that they admire is trying the
product.

Many of the young boys who are targeted dream of being in the
WWE one day, which appeals to their personal emotions. It
allows for them to believe that if they eat a Slim Jim and
unleash their spicy side then they can become WWE Superstars.
Also this might appeal to the parents of these children for
the convenience. These beef sticks are thin and easy to pack
in a lunch, or take to the park. For the older part of the
target market there is obvious sex appeal by featuring two
good-looking twin sisters in red dresses. The combination of

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all of these appeals is known as the unique selling

proposition.

Living life on the

Edge
In this ad the two main characters were teenage boys. By
using teenage boys as the main characters Slim Jim was able
to emotionally appeal to the children allowing for them to
imagine themselves in the commercial eating Slim Jims.

The other main character is WWE superstar Edge. Edge is known

as the “Rated R Superstar” and is constantly doing something
unexpected. Through these series of ads Slim Jim tries to
portray that the reason Edge is so unpredictable is because
he unleashes his spicy side by eating Slim Jims which in
return has helped him become WWE Champion. Since many
children dream of becoming WWE Champion this allows them to
believe that they should be eating Slim Jims.

The final two characters are the Bella twins. Although they
do not have any spoken lines they immediately draw your
attention using sex appeal. They also are standing next to
stacks of Slim Jims. This creates brand awareness since many
individuals eyes are diverted to the women in the ad rather
than the main characters.

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Live the Dream

Slim Jim’s executional style for portraying a message

included using a spokesperson to become the new face of the
product. They also created a fantasy that allowed consumers
to believe that Slim Jim will help them achieve their wildest
dreams. The line “Once you eat a Slim Jim anything is
possible” can be perceived very literally by children
creating an image around what the product is. This is an
example of how Slim Jim is using the competitive form of
product advertising. Rather than being pioneering to raise
awareness or comparative to show advantages, competitive
advertising is focused more on consumer’s emotions in order
to influence demand.

The use of the AIDA model will help ensure the execution of
the message that Slim Jim wants to portray. First it is
important to raise awareness, in which Slim Jim did with the
original Macho Man ads. The next step is to gain interest. By
using WWE wrestlers many of the male children have immediate
interest. The next step of the model is to create a desire
for the product. Slim Jims on the go convenience packaging
and great taste create desire from consumers. The last step
is action, meaning getting the customers to actually buy the
product. While on tour the WWE can show an ad, and since most
concession stands sell Slim Jims this would help to promote
action.

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Unusually Clever
Something I find unusual about this commercial is the mini
version of the actors. There are four commercials for Slim
Jim that include Edge, and in each one there is a mini Edge.
The reasoning behind the mini Edge is unclear and doesn’t
make a lot of sense. Slim Jim should go re-evaluate the
purpose of the mini characters.

On the other hand I found that the use of the kids becoming
WWE champions was rather clever. Most of the wrestlers in the
WWE today started off as fans when they were children. There
are also many children that would love to be a WWE wrestler
and by using the consumers emotions by showing the children
winning the championship is extremely clever.

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Snap Into a Slim Jim

This ad has proven to be very effective; otherwise Slim Jim
wouldn’t keep repeating the same concepts to the WWE
Universe. Most advertising campaigns seek to create an image
for their products, in which Slim Jim has accomplished.
Through running these ads some male children believe that
unleashing your spicy side will help you become like Edge and
live out your dream. This means that the message was
effectively communicated through the AIDA process. As I
previously mentioned the “mini” characters don’t serve a
purpose in the ad and Slim Jim should re-evaluate them
because I’m sure that takes up a lot of time to computer
generate.

Observations
During this commercial I observed that the clear target
market was male children who watch professional wrestling.
The overall ad, although not the best or most creative, has
proven to be effective for the past two decades.