AdMiration feature: Pillsbury’s “Big Biscuits”

For this week’s AdMiration feature, we looked at consumer response to Pillsbury’s “Big Biscuits” ad, part of the brand’s latest campaign to announce that its biscuits, crescent rolls and cinnamon rolls now bake up bigger than ever before.

Read on to get our 3-2-1 snapshot of the ad (3 facts, 2 learnings and 1 reflection) and learn how their ad was received based on our data.

The ad begins with a close up of what appears to be the sun, while the song made famous from 2001: A Space Odyssey (Richard Strauss's “Also sprach Zarathustra”) begins to play. As the camera pulls back, we realize that what had looked like a sun is actually an oven light, and we see the camera pan over some delicious-looking biscuits baking. 

We then cut to the Pillsbury Doughboy triumphantly singing along to the music while drumming on a Pillsbury Grands Biscuits container with honey dipper sticks. A young boy sitting at a kitchen table says “Does he do this every time?” His mom responds “Ever since the biscuits got bigger” while setting a bowl of biscuits on the table. The boy bites into a biscuit while the Pillsbury Doughboy finishes drumming and his dad says “Here comes the big ending.”

The ad ends with the Pillsbury Doughboy saying “Bigger biscuits, crescents and cinnamon rolls!” and, of course, getting poked in the tummy and saying “hoo hoo!”

3 facts

• “Big Biscuits” is a cute and successful ad from Pillsbury, landing in the top 20% of ads for its ability to drive immediate sales (Sales Impact: 79) and the top 15% for its ability to drive long-term brand equity (Brand Impact: 86). 

• After watching the ad, a whopping 74% of people agreed that Pillsbury had great taste! And the key message "Pillsbury offers bigger, fluffier biscuits for more to enjoy” was seen as clear (Clarity: 4.6 vs. 4.2 norm) and believable (Believability: 4.5 vs. 4.1 norm), with some people saying “How delicious Pillsbury biscuits are and that they are even bigger/fluffier than they used to be” and “Pillsbury Biscuits bake up bigger now.”

• People really love the ad (Love: 40% vs. 27% norm), particularly the Pillsbury Doughboy, the depictions of family time and how big and delicious the biscuits looked. 

2 learnings

• Creating a simple and informative, yet lovable ad. The ad does something important: it communicates relevant new product info (that the biscuits are bigger), which ladders up to the overall idea of a satisfying product with great taste. But it also has an emotional wrapper of the brand mascot and the family togetherness — which creates a wholesome and lovable vibe. All that is possible in just 15 seconds with the use of powerful music, close up visuals of biscuits, an iconic brand mascot and just a few spoken lines of dialogue!

• Over time, brand mascots can become well-loved by audiences — but it takes consistency over time to ensure everyone has the same feeling. If you remove the Pillsbury Doughboy from this ad, you likely wouldn’t have a love score anywhere near as high as this ad does — we see spikes of love every time he’s on screen! That kind of love doesn’t happen overnight. It takes years to create that kind of connection. But remember that everyone has a different experience with your mascot based on what they’ve been exposed to. You have to use your brand characters in a focused, consistent and relevant way to make sure every generation feels the love!

1 reflection

Are you using your DBAs in new ways to convey news about your brand or product? 

The Pillsbury Doughboy (officially named Poppin’ Fresh!) was created in 1965 and has consistently been used in different situations ever since. It’s an incredible asset for the Pillsbury brand because you can’t fake that kind of brand history. It’s an authentic connection we have with the brand that’s been built over time. 

He resonates with us because he feels nostalgic and reminds us of our childhoods, but he also continues to feel relevant today — never feeling stuck in the past. 

And in this ad (and the broader campaign, more on that below), the brand relies on our familiarity with him to help announce some product news in a fun and engaging way. His friendly and warm personality is on display while he shows his excitement for the bigger biscuits, and we all can’t help but feel excited with him! 

Pillsbury biscuits, crescent rolls and cinnamon rolls now bake up bigger than ever, and Pillsbury’s latest campaign is here to celebrate this news. 

The biggest part of the campaign is a live activation that took place at Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York City on September 21 this year. A 25-foot-tall Doughboy appeared in the park, inviting families to poke his belly and enjoy product samples. 

The campaign also features two new short ads from Goodby Silverstein & Partners and director Steve Miller, showcasing the Pillsbury Doughboy dancing and drumming — which are airing across TV, online video and social platforms.

Michelle Odland, Vice President and Business Unit Director at Pillsbury said of the campaign, “At Pillsbury, we’re all about helping families make memories, whether it's around the dinner table or during special moments like this. So, when we launched our crescent rolls, biscuits and cinnamon rolls that now bake up bigger, we knew the Doughboy had to go big, too. This celebration is all about joy, togetherness and, of course, belly pokes.”

What a short and sweet ad from Pillsbury! The well-loved brand mascot, sweet family moments and easy-to-understand product message all come together to put the ad in the top 20% of ads for its ability to drive immediate sales (Sales Impact: 79) and the top 15% for its ability to drive long-term brand equity (Brand Impact: 86). 

Diving deeper, “Big Biscuits” is distinctive (Distinctiveness: 4.0 vs. 3.7 norm) — allowing it to stand out, drive great reach and be noticed and remembered (Claimed Attention 4.2 vs. 4.0 norm, Brand Distinctiveness 4.3 vs. 3.7 norm).

The short ad has a single-minded focus: convey that Pillsbury biscuits bake up bigger than ever before. 

Did that message come across? Yes! The message “Pillsbury offers bigger, fluffier biscuits for more to enjoy” is seen as clear (Key Message Clarity: 4.6 vs. 4.2 norm) and believable (Key Message Clarity: 4.5 vs. 4.1 norm). People got the message, with some people describing it as “How delicious Pillsbury biscuits are and that they are even bigger/fluffier than they used to be” and “Pillsbury Biscuits bake up bigger now.”

But even more than just making that point, the ad also conveys many key aspects of the Pillsbury brand and products in just 15 seconds. 

After viewing the ad, an incredible 74% of people agree that Pillsbury has great taste! And the majority agree that Pillsbury is satisfying (60%), that Pillsbury is for everyone (59%) and that Pillsbury is a trusted brand (56%) 

Plus, after watching the ad, people felt that Pillsbury delivers what they need from a sweet baked snacks brand (Brand Meets Needs: 4.4 vs. 4.1 norm).

Despite doing all of this well, the ad’s strongest area is how well it resonated with the audience. People understood the ad (Understanding: 4.5 vs. 4.3 norm), really enjoyed it (Enjoyment: 4.2 vs. 3.9 norm) and found it relevant (Relevance: 4.1 vs. 3.7 norm).

And most importantly, audiences loved the ad (Love: 40% vs. 27%), resulting in high overall emotion (Overall Emotion: 70 vs. 57 norm). 

Looking second-by-second, the ad begins with love as we hear the famous music begin and we see what looks like a close up shot of the sun. As the camera pulls back to reveal the biscuits, there is even more love. 

As soon as the camera cuts to the Pillsbury Doughboy triumphantly drumming with the honey dipper sticks we get the biggest spike of laughter in the ad. There’s a mix of love and like throughout the rest of the ad (including spikes of love whenever the Pillsbury Doughboy is on screen), ending with the biggest spike of love at the end when the Pillsbury Doughboy says “Bigger biscuits, crescents and cinnamon rolls!” and then gets poked in the tummy.

What did people like most in the ad? The people and characters were referenced most often (22%) — specifically the Pillsbury Doughboy (who achieved a Celebrity Appeal of an incredible 4.6 vs. 3.8 norm!). 

People also referenced the emotional appeal of the ad (13%), including the warm family moments. People called out the quality of the product (11%) and visuals in the ad (9%), as well as the music (6%) — with a high Musical Appeal of 4.3 vs. 3.8 norm. 

People said things like: 

• "I like the variety, I like the family and I liked the cute Pillsbury Doughboy. I loved the noise he made when his tummy was poked."

• "It showed how big the biscuit bakes up. I liked the family enjoying the product, the sun coming up and the music."

• "I liked how the family was together, showing how making baked goods can be a family experience."

• "I love that it’s a family together cooking a delicious treat. The Doughboy makes it more fun."

• "Music got your attention . Something big is happening. Biscuits are big. Family can share."

• "I always liked the Pillsbury Doughboy, and I liked the visuals of the food."

• "The Pillsbury Doughboy is adorable."

What a fun way to announce product news! What did you think? Let us know by interacting with our coverage of the ad on LinkedIn.

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