HERO SET TO SAVE WASHINGTON APPLES

ROSEANNE HARPER

WENATCHEE, Wash. -- The Washington Apple Commission here has launched a series of television ads that spearhead an unprecedented multimedia effort to increase domestic consumption of its products.

With this year's ad budget set at $20 million -- more than double the money earmarked for advertising in previous years -- the commission is running a campaign that's designed to increase domestic consumption of Washington apples by 25% over the next three years.

Large crop yields and export markets that are threatened by economic turbulence have pushed Washington apple growers to find a way to increase consumption in the United States, said Tom Swearingen, the Washington Apple Commission's director of advertising.

"We have a situation where 30% to 35% of our business used to be done in exports, primarily to the Orient and Latin America, and because of what's going on in those areas, we'll probably sell less of our product there," Swearingen said.

"That basically means we're going to have to sell more domestically than ever before, somewhere around 25% more," he added.

The TV ads are aimed at a new audience, medium to light users, Swearingen said. The group targeted is made up of women, ages 25 to 54, with kids. The ads feature a newly created live-action hero, dubbed Apple Guy, who revives victims of fatigue and stress with an "emergency kit" of Washington apples.

"Apples have become so routine that people tend to forget about them. We found [via market research] that to increase consumption, we needed to remind consumers why apples are so enjoyable. That meant focusing on the all-important experience of the first bite," Swearingen said.

The entertaining antics of Apple Guy represent a sharp departure from previous commission ads showing orchard scenes.

"To motivate the group of consumers we're targeting we needed to place the apple-eating experience in a relevant and familiar situation and wrap it up with an entertaining story line," said another source at the commission.

In one TV spot, Apple Guy, who drives through and around a myriad of unusual obstacles -- including two chimpanzees playing chess and a dancing bear -- comes to the rescue of a father and daughter, exhausted after a day at the zoo.

The Apple Guy character carries what looks like a first-aid kit, imprinted with these words: "Washington Apples. Just the Thing." When Apple Guy opens the kit, six apples of different colors are revealed and one is applied to the mouth of the victim of exhaustion, with predictable results.

The commission's ad budget this year has enabled it to air the commercial, as it will additional ones, in 20 markets across the country. Swearingen pointed out that, in previous years, the commission's advertising budget had been limited to $5 million to $8 million.

The better-funded advertising campaign this year results from growers' voting last summer to increase an assessment by the Washington Apple Commission from 25 cents to 40 cents a box of apples destined for fresh consumption, Swearingen said.

"The entire 15 cents extra a box, or roughly $15 million, added to my previous advertising budget gives us $20 million this fiscal year to increase consumer demand through advertising," Swearingen said.