Plenty of companies have tried the same old, same old when it comes to ads that pretend to show social networking and branding awareness, and a lot of times those commercials are met with groans and Liz Lemon eye rolls. At the same time, one particular condiment that Internet experts and so-called foodies love to complain about and debate is steak sauce, because there’s a rule among meat-eaters that a steak should be so good that it never needs sauce. So with those two ideas in mind, we were expecting the worst from a new A.1. Sauce commercial that uses Facebook as its core theme to announce that it’s ditching the “Steak” in its name.
However, if there’s a blueprint for how to successfully pull off a Facebook-themed commercial using something as silly as steak and sauce growing apart because of a bunch of different types of food, then A.1. just drew it up with “New Friend Request.” I don’t usually find myself emotionally affected by just some old commercial – those Publix Christmas commercials do nothing to my cold, black heart – but this one touched me. Mainly in the stomach.
I would like a steak now, please.
