AdMiration feature: Wonderful Pistachios’ “Lilliputians”

For this week’s AdMiration feature, we looked at consumer response to Wonderful Pistachios’ “Lilliputians” ad, which promotes their classic bag of pistachios in anticipation of a record breaking pistachio harvest this year.

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 opens to a quiet scene of a woman casually sitting on a park bench, staring off and munching on a bag of Wonderful Pistachios. 

When the scene pans out, however, the woman is staring at another young woman on the ground, being tied down by Lilliputians — fictional tiny people from Jonathan Swift's “Gulliver's Travels.” She looks up at the woman on the bench and explains, “I had Lilliputians tie me up so I wouldn’t snack.”   

The woman on the bench, still snacking, responds, “Well what about Wonderful Pistachios? They’re tasty and healthy.” 

“Pistachios, huh?” the woman on the ground ponders, then breaks free from the tiny wooden pegs and ropes that have been holding her down, as the Lilliputians flee, screaming. 

As the woman on the bench shares some pistachios with her, she asks, “Are they okay?” To which the other woman responds, “Oh yeah, they’re really resilient” as she flicks one off her shoulder. 

The ad closes with the words “The don’t hold back snack” and an image of Wonderful Pistachios appearing on screen.   

3 facts

• This was a very entertaining and effective spot from Wonderful Pistachios, landing in the top 10% of US ads in potential to drive short term sales and top 15% of US ads in potential to drive brand equity in the longer term (Sales Impact: 90, Brand Impact: 87)

• The Lilliputians are the stars of the show and seeing them being flung off so the woman can enjoy a healthy, tasty snack ensures the ad is not only entertaining but also clearly communicates the product benefits. This can be seen not only through high scores on Brand Meets Needs and Brand Appeal (4.1 vs. 3.9 norm) but also the fact that the key message “Wonderful Pistachios are a smarter snacking choice” is seen as clear (Clarity: 4.4 vs. 4.2 norm) and believable (Believability: 4.4 vs. 4.1), with some summarizing the message as: “It's okay to snack with wonderful pistachios because they're healthy,” “Don't find ways to avoid snacking, pistachios are healthy and yummy” and “They are a delicious and healthy snack you don’t have to be guilty about.”

• The ad does a great job at depicting positive category attributes, with many listing delicious (68%), natural (48%) and a guilt-free snack option (45%) as product attributes after watching the ad and giving a higher than average ranking for “Wonderful Pistachios is different from other salty snacks brands” (Brand Distinctiveness: 3.9 vs. 3.7 norm). 

2 learnings

• Humor is a great emotion for capturing (and holding) attention. In this case, “Lilliputians” received much higher than average Laughter reactions from viewers (Laughter: 22% vs. 8% norm), causing them to be hooked from beginning to end. Just four seconds in, a huge spike of laughter is seen which continues throughout the spot and ends in the final seconds of the ad when a Lilliputian is swatted away. The result? Multiple peaks of laughter throughout the entire ad which made for a fully engaged audience throughout, with 93% of people watching the whole ad without skipping or dropping off.  

• People don’t always have to ‘get’ a reference to enjoy your ad. While it is of course always a benefit to understand a reference that’s being made, if you can create a scenario that includes a reference but is also entertaining on its own, you have a real opportunity to entertain your audience in more ways than one. In this case with the Lilliputians, not all viewers knew that they were characters from “Gulliver's Travels,” but that didn’t take away from the humor they added to the spot. The key thing is that they understand the narrative and the 'small people's roles' in keeping her from her own cravings even if they don't know who the small people are. Ultimately, viewers still found the ad profoundly hilarious, and if they got the reference, they just enjoyed it even more. 

1 reflection

Can you be single minded in what it is that will make your brand more attractive to people? Doing so allows you to find the most relatable way to engage and land key associations. This ad does a fantastic job on connecting these pieces. From the single minded 'guilt free, healthy snacking' message to the relatable idea of cravings being so overpowering that you need to be tied down to stop you from acting upon them, through to the amusing dramatization of being 'unleashed' from the cravings because you can enjoy a tasty, healthy snack.

This focus has allowed Wonderful Pistachios to create a series of engaging and relevant stories, each grounded in the idea of needing help to avoid your cravings.

Wonderful Pistachios’ “Lilliputians” ad is part of the brand's new “The Don’t Hold Back Snack” campaign created in anticipation of a record breaking pistachio harvest this fall.

This ad is one of five created for the campaign, directed by Harold Einstein, that features a simple message: “Wonderful Pistachios is the craveable snack that’s too good to be ‘good’ for you.” The four other spots out now include “Crocodile,” “El Stachio,” "Cement Hands" and "Bear Hug", each staying true to the satirical theme of ridiculous acts people are doing in order to stop themselves from snacking (when they could just have some Wonderful Pistachios). 

Michael Perdigao, President of The Wonderful Agency, shares: “People have been conditioned to think snacking is inherently bad – to feel guilty when snacking. The real issue is the abundance of convenient junk food on the market, not the act of snacking itself. That’s what ‘The Don’t Hold Back Snack’ is all about. Snacking doesn’t have to be the enemy, and Wonderful Pistachios is that not-so-guilty pleasure that tastes great while being great for you.”

A true 360-degree campaign, The Don’t Hold Back Snack will air its ads across cable outlets, digital streaming platforms and social media, as well as advertise on celebrity-hosted podcasts for personalized content and creative out-of-home activations across nine major U.S. markets: Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Diana Salsa, Vice President of Marketing at Wonderful Pistachios, shares: ”Whether fitness, food, or lifestyle podcasts, pistachio messaging fits seamlessly into relatable content that aligns with consumer interests at every intersection. Additionally, the on-demand nature of this campaign allows us to reach audiences on their own terms – whether during commutes, workouts, or leisure time – maximizing exposure and impact.”

This spot was a lesson in satire done right from Wonderful Pistachios! And consumers agreed, with the ad landing a spot in the top 10% of US ads in potential to drive short term sales (Sales Impact: 90) and top 15% of US ads in potential to drive brand equity in the longer term (Brand Impact: 87).

The content of the ad resonated with audiences, who found it distinctive  (Distintiveness: 4.2 vs. 3.8 norm) and highly relevant to them (Relevance: 4.0 vs. 3.6 norm), all while enjoying the short, satirical spot (Enjoyment: 4.1 vs. 3.9 norm).

Viewers found it incredibly funny, with overall Laughter scores significantly surpassing the norm (Laughter: 22% vs. 8% norm). 

We see the highest spike of Like when viewers see the woman on the bench eating Wonderful Pistachios. This is followed by a spike of Laughter as we’re introduced to the woman who got herself tied up by Lilliputians to avoid snacking. A mix of Love and Like is seen when the first woman explains how Wonderful Pistachios are tasty and healthy. Then the biggest spike of Laughter occurs as the woman stands up and the Lilliputians flee to avoid getting stepped on. Finally, another spike of Laughter occurs at the end as she swats a Lilluptian into the bushes.  

An interesting bit worth noting is that while the Lilliputians are characters from “Gulliver’s Travels,” just a few people called that out in their verbatims — signaling that while it was beneficial to get the reference, it wasn't actually needed in order to enjoy the ad and get the humor.

What’s so great about this ad is that even though the brand included two things that are entirely unrelated (pistachios and Lilliputians), they did so in such a clever way that viewers still remembered who the ad was for as well as the product message. 

So while the Lilliputians steal the show with all the funny moments, the pistachios still shine through because they made Wonderful Pistachios the hero of the show — allowing the woman to be set free from her captivity because they're healthy. 

When recalling the story, “pistachios” is the top mentioned word (78%) and when recalling the message, “snack,” “healthy” and “pistachio” are the top words listed by viewers, with some people summarizing the message as: 

• That it's okay to snack with wonderful pistachios because they're healthy.

• Don't find ways to avoid snacking, pistachios are healthy and yummy.

• They are a delicious and healthy snack you don’t have to be guilty about.

Overall, the key message “Wonderful Pistachios are a smarter snacking choice” is seen as clear (Clarity: 4.4 vs. 4.2 norm) and believable (Believability: 4.4 vs. 4.1) — even with those pesky Lilliputians in the mix! 

On top of that, the ad also does a great job at conveying important things about the product, including that it’s delicious (68%), natural (48%) and a guilt-free snack option (45%). 

What’s more, after viewing the ad, audiences felt that Wonderful Pistachios delivers what they expect from a salty snacks brand (Brand Meets Needs: 4.3 vs. 4.0 norm), that Wonderful Pistachios is different from other salty snacks brands (Brand Distinctiveness: 3.9 vs. 3.7 norm) and the ad makes them feel good about the Wonderful Pistachios brand (Brand Appeal: 4.1 vs. 3.9 norm) — all laddering up to excellent brand messaging.

Overall, Wonderful Pistachios delivered a satirical success with this spot — generating lots of laughter with the surprise of the Lilliputians but grounding the spot with their brand by making the product the heart of the tale. 

Here’s what some people had to say about the ad:

• "In the ad I liked how the woman got up and all of the tiny humans started to run away. I also liked how the woman sitting on the bench wasn’t bothered by anything going on around her."

• "I like the tiny people and all of the rest of the visuals. I also like how relaxed the two women were as they talked about healthy snacking."

• "I like the funny aspect of the tiny people tying girl 2 down. And I love pistachios anyways so the ad appeals to me in any way shown."

• "I loved the small people in the ad and the lady flicking the person into the bushes it made me laugh a great deal"

• "I liked the way they showed being held back from snacking. Using the little people is a fun way to show that."

• "I liked the humor of the little people and the message that pistachios are a healthy snack."

• "That it was creative, using a famous scene from Gulliver's Travels to help you understand how bad the cravings for unhealthy snacks can be, while providing a perfect alternative."

• "I liked the Gulliver theme. It was a great reference."

The relatable desire to snack and the challenge to avoid giving in to craving, combined with a relatable story, fun characters and the product coming out as the hero of the ad all made this spot a success! What did you think? Let us know by interacting with our coverage of the ad on LinkedIn.

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