The peach emoticon no longer refers to the fruit. Users have attributed sensual connotations to it and use it to refer to a person’s butt. But the Lipton tea drink brand wants to reverse the situation, and reclaims the original meaning of the symbol to highlight the intense flavor of its product.
It does so with “Respect the peach”, its new European campaign, designed by the agency adam&eve/TBWA and starring the rapper Ice-T, with whom the brand has previously worked thanks to the play on words that its name allows to make with the concept “Ice Tea”, in Spanish, iced tea.
On this occasion, the artist expresses his appreciation for the peach and asks users in the Netherlands and Belgium, through different pieces for social networks, to respect the meaning of the emoticon and use it only to refer to the fruit and the flavor of the Lipton drink. “Make sure the peach emoji always represents the sweet peach flavor of the original Lipton Peach Ice Tea. A butt is a butt and a peach is a peach, like in a Lipton Ice Tea”, comments Ice-T in a video.
“When we discovered that 93% of peach emoji usage has nothing to do with the fruit, we immediately saw an opportunity for Lipton Peach Ice Tea“, commented April Adams-Redmond, Global Marketing Director of Pepsi Lipton, according to Creative Salon. “This campaign consists of Lipton being present where the conversations take place, with a good dose of irreverent humor, all while enjoying a delicious iced tea”.
In its attempt to amend the meaning of the emoji, the brand has also encouraged users to share their own stories of misunderstandings about the peach emoji with the hashtag #RespectThePeach. The best comments and anecdotes have been part of a Lipton product giveaway.
In addition, Ice-T has also responded on video to some of the user comments on the posts.
“It turns out that social media posts are using the peach emoji incorrectly. That’s a lot of butt-related content. So we needed a real expert on the subject. That’s why we hired Ice-T, to help Lipton Ice Tea teach a lesson in respecting the peach” said Mark Shanley, Executive Creative Director of adam&eveTBWA. “This strikes us as the kind of clever, social media-centric joke with a touch of butt humor that the world needs right now, and we had a lot of fun making it”.
As part of the campaign, Lipton has collaborated and invited DJs, producers and music creators to mix the rapper’s words with songs to be spread on social networks and also at in-person events, parties and clubs.
The brand has also entered the field of sports, fitness and gym content, where the peach emoticon is often used in the comments, to interact with creators and claim the original meaning of the symbol and remember that it refers to fruit and not to buttocks.
On the other hand, the campaign also includes the creation of an emoticon in the shape of an anatomically correct butt. With this, Lipton intends to separate the peach from its current connotation, and provide a graphic resource to users to improve their communication.
The campaign has been launched first in the Netherlands and Belgium, and will roll out in other European markets in the coming weeks.
