In John Cena‘s third consecutive year as the face of Hefty Ultra Strong trash bags, it’s easy for the sports entertainer turned actor to draw parallels back to his home inside the squared circle. Speaking with With Spandex on his partnership with the brand, Cena discussed how the trash bag brand’s investment in their consumers continues to draw him back to the organization thanks to a slight WWE connection.
“(Hefty is) a family run organization. They certainly care about the consumer, which is something that I like associating with,” Cena said.
“They care about giving the consumer a great product for great value. That’s one of my core systems of belief and that’s been instilled in me at WWE. We care about our consumer. Without our consumer we are nothing. (In WWE) you put your life on the line every day to try to give your consumers the best value for their dollar. And the Hefty brand certainly shares that ethos. On top of that, they approach using me in a very different light which helps people crack a smile. So you can save some money and you can have some fun. That’s a pretty good combination.”
As for the WWE, Cena sees the same consumer situation playing out inside the ring, where fans have essentially pushed Becky Lynch into a top spot.
“We are in the entertainment business. Whatever the consumer finds most entertaining, regardless of sex, race, creed, color, religion anything. What the consumer wants, WWE will give,” Cena said.
“I think Daniel Bryan a few years ago in the main event of WrestleMania was a great example of that. And I think the women that are supposedly within the main event of WrestleMania this year were pushing forward toward that historic, monumental occasion. I’m one of those people who think that it should’ve happened a whole lot earlier, but I’m very proud that our audience is at a point where they’re screaming at the top of their lungs, ‘Hey, this is what we want to see.’ I was so extremely happy for Becky Lynch to be able to find this personality that she carved out of thin air and almost out of desperation and become so successful with it.”
For Cena, he sees parallels between Lynch’s sudden meteoric rise and how his career got off the ground years ago.
“I’m really passionate about this stuff. I’ve always looked at WWE as the land of opportunity. I have been surrounded by performers that so many times become complacent and negative and they think like, ‘Oh, I can’t do this because of X.’ Or ‘I can’t do this because this person is holding me down.’ I know when I speak to those people they don’t necessarily take stock in what I say, but I only say what I do because I started from nothing,” Cena said.
“I was about to be fired. I was in a Becky Lynch-type scenario where I was forgotten and I was about to be let go and I took a chance on myself. I took a chance on redefining my character and it worked and I’ve never stopped. And I wasn’t the corporate headquarters first, second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth choice, but the audience began to make noise. And I connected with the audience and the rest is history. And that’s what’s wonderful about WWE. It truly is an enterprise system for any performer to connect with the audience. And once they connect with the audience, it doesn’t matter if they’re male or female. It doesn’t matter where you’re from. What you look like. You become a centerpiece of our entertainment and I think that’s the most fascinating thing about what we do. It truly is go out there and connect and then see what happens.”
At the end of the day, whether it’s Hefty or the WWE, Cena believes the consumer is in control to make these special moments possible.
“Oh man, I could talk to you all day about that stuff. Honestly, hats off to the WWE Universe. Some cities are more vocal than others, but I think week-by-week the WWE Universe is now really, truly understanding they have the power to make things like Becky Lynch’s character or certain moments (happen). It’s the same with movies. I’ll even bring it back full circle it’s the same with the Hefty campaign. We put out things that we think are funny, but if the consumer doesn’t think they’re funny I’m not talking to you about the third year of our relationship,” Cena said.
“But the consumer thinks they’re funny, the brand looks into the consumer and tries to give them more of what they want. So hats off to the folks at Hefty for listening to the people and really, genuinely, especially because we’re on the brink of history, hats off to the WWE Universe.”
