San Diego, California-based tuna brand Chicken of the Sea is celebrating National Seafood Month with a tongue-in-cheek ad campaign which revisits the question, “Is it chicken or is it fish?”
The new “Fish Called Chicken” ad spots refer to an infamous 2003 episode of reality TV series Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica, wherein singer Jessica Simpson, while eating a bowl of Chicken of the Sea tuna, asked her then-husband Nick Lachey: “Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish? I know it’s tuna, but it says ‘Chicken by the Sea’.”
Poking fun at the moment, the latest Chicken of the Sea campaign includes a series of 15-second spots featuring a talking chicken wrestling with the meaning behind the Chicken of the Sea brand. The name originates with fisherman in the early 1900s, who equated the white color and mild flavor of albacore tuna with the appearance and texture of chicken, according to Chicken of the Sea.
A second version of the spot uses the chicken to humorously spotlight Chicken of the Sea’s digital traceability program, which allows consumers to trace their seafood from ocean to plate. Certain digital banner ads feature a link to a rebate on Chicken of the Sea tuna products as part of the campaign.
“This new campaign celebrates the special relationship we have with American seafood lovers and the feeling of fun and whimsy we’ve enjoyed since the beginning,” said Diego Isaza, vice president of marketing for Chicken of the Sea International.
Chicken of the Sea is first testing the campaign in Albany, New York, then in Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut, because of “their size, media importance and above-average preference for tuna,” the company said.
