After a hiatus lasting almost two decades, Kraft has revived the media presence of its Bull’s-Eye barbeque sauce through a campaign called “The Bold Choice.” The company took out a 15-second TV ad during Game 6 of the NBA Finals that emphasizes the sauce’s strong taste through a humorous play on the word “bold.” In the clip, a voiceover declares, “Bold versus sweet. Let’s see. They build statues of bold men. They don’t build statues of sweet men. Well, they do. But they’re call figurines,” as a figurine of a small boy flashes on the screen.

The campaign coincides with the launch of four new barbeque sauces under the Bulls Eye label. Evidently, its target audience is men; playing the ad during a high-exposure sports game was a good way to connect with key consumers. The four new sauces, Carolina, Texas, Memphis and Kansas City, are named after areas in the American Midwest and South, areas often associated with masculinity and ruggedness, characteristics thought to be attractive to the Bulls Eye target audience.
In addition to the television ad, the campaign has branched out to a diverse range of old and new media, as well as sampling and barbeque parties. On the microsite BullsEyeBrotherhood.ca, Canadian comedian Gerry Dee offers humorous grilling tips, and visitors can post their own videos to share tips with each other.
Through associating the sauce with masculinity, the campaign is clearly saying that grilling is a man’s game. This message is a timely one, as the campaign hits consumers at the start of the summer barbeque season. More importantly, it positions the sauce not only as flavor enhancing, but lifestyle enhancing: the campaign’s underlying message seems to be that the sauce will make users better grillers and “bolder” men. This underlying message may be attempting to capitalize on male insecurities and traditional social expectations for aggressive and dominant men. Will Kraft’s target audience take the bait? Or alternatively, are women just as active during barbeque season, causing Bulls Eye’s overly masculine campaign to turn them off from the brand all together? This remains to be seen.