Dive Brief:

• Kraft Heinz’s Lunchables launched a campaign to promote its new Grilled Cheesies line, per details shared with Marketing Dive. The product uses 360Crisp technology that purports to deliver a pan-like crisp in seconds.
• Two spots, “Dr. Crispy” and “Paradise,” use a child’s perspective to imagine what’s happening in the microwave when Grilled Cheesies are cooking. Creative was led by Goodby Silverstein & Partners while Starcom’s Publicis 57, a bespoke unit for Kraft Heinz, handled U.S. media.
• The campaign follows another recent Kraft Heinz product debut, Oscar Mayer’s Scramblers, but comes as the packaged foods giant has drawn some criticism for how it markets to children.

Dive Insight:

With its new Grilled Cheesies line, Lunchables is expanding its brand beyond the iconic lunch packs that have been a childhood staple for decades. The frozen product uses Kraft Heinz’s 360Crisp technology, which seeks to create crispy, crunchy meals like ones prepared on the stove but in the microwave.

“At Kraft Heinz, we’re sitting at the intersection of food and technology — building consumer-first innovations that revolutionize the meal table and importantly, drive real value for families around the world,” said Alan Kleinerman, vice president and head of disruption at Kraft Heinz, in a statement.

Spots by Goodby Silverstein & Partners tap into “kid-fueled daydreams” about what’s actually happening in the microwave to bring the concept to life. “Dr Crispy” centers on a mad scientist bearing the titular name, while “Paradise” depicts a sandwich soaking up some rays. Publicis 57’s media plan for the campaign leverages precision targeting and spans online video, social media, paid media and in-store assets.

The kid-focused campaign comes on the heels of Kraft Heinz facing some controversy over its “Taste Some Play Every School Day” campaign, as reported by Ad Age. That effort promotes four of the marketer’s products as mock textbooks — Lunchables become Stackonomics, for example — in ways that risk confusing children about the foods available at school versus the grocery store, according to health advocates. Kraft Heinz distributes special versions of Lunchables that comply with federal guidelines for the National School Lunch Program.

Meanwhile, Kraft Heinz this month continued a recent spree of brand refreshes and launches with a multichannel campaign promoting Oscar Mayer's new Scramblers breakfast product. Like Scrambles, which brought together Oscar Mayer and Kraft Heinz sister brand Velveeta for the first time in a single breakfast offering, the Grilled Cheesies product combines Lunchables and Kraft Singles brands. Lunchables last month was also featured in Instacart’s largest-ever back-to-school campaign.