Craving a BLT? Bacon biz stories from bartering to marketing

Oscar Mayer's bacon barter. Photo by Oscar Mayer

Here comes one of those talkers that just begs to be localized:  Oscar Mayer has sent a man on a two-week cross-country trip with no cash or credit cards — just a trailer packed with 3,000 pounds of the brand’s Butcher Thick Cut Bacon. 

The Great American Bacon Barter is, obviously, a marketing gimmick adopted by Oscar Mayer parent company Kraft Foods to publicize the appeal of its hand-trimmed, hardwood-smoked meat.  Comedian Josh Sankey is expected to barter the bacon for food, lodging and entertainment along the way.  According to BaconBarter.com and the Twitter handle @BaconBarter, he’s already traded for baseball tickets, a first-aid kit, beer, a few places to crash and a hot shower.

It’s a fun story and one you can connect with in several ways:

Marketing.  Your local companies and/or advertising agencies may not be able to launch a transcontinental product pitch but a profile of some of the best and worst local marketing gimmicks could be a good tie-in.  Look for examples in your neck of the woods akin to the LA restaurant that’s paying patrons to put cell phones away, or this parking-app promotion in Austin that rubbed recipients the wrong way.  Sign spinners, giant inflatables, naked cleaning services, kooky appliance-store pitchmen — what are some of your area’s most eye-catching gimmicks, and do they work?

On a more substantive note, talk with marketers about how advertising and marketing approaches reflect the larger economy.  As we all know, post-recession advertising often has eschewed frivolity in favor of a prudent, value-oriented ”frugalista” spin and soulful, reflective tone (like those Liberty Mutual insurance ads with people paying good deeds forward).  Is the emergence of something goofy like the Bacon Barter  a sign that consumers may be in a more playful mood?  Recent consumer sentiment reports would suggest otherwise but perhaps marketers are trying to prime the pump.

Bartering.  Trading goods instead of cash is a practice as old as the human species, but it’s getting more attention in a post-recession, consumer-cash-poor economy.  A new reality show on GSN (the former Game Show Network) will feature a Vermont car dealership locally famous for trading autos for pies and other other non-cash goods.  Consumers in your area might be participating in community bartering or community currency programs, including those that encourage a “buy local” ethic — ask at Chambers of Commerce and downtown development associations for leads to local groups.

The Harvard Business Review says business-to-business bartering is “exploding” with service professional like attorneys and electricians bartering for credit within organized exchanges, as well.  Car companies are trading vehicles for “media credits,” hotels are using bartering to get renovations done, and so on.  What creative deals are firms in your area making to offload excess inventory or capacity and conserve cash?  The International Reciprocal Trade Association offers a list of member organizations that you easily can scroll to find your state or region’s group.

And here’s an interesting Bloomberg piece about the global barter economy after the Great Depression, which had governments trading timber and coal and coffee in lieu of paying with cash.  And don’t forget a nod to Internal Revenue Service rules about bartering; there are tax consequences to the proceeds of a trade.

Bacon.  There’s always room for one more bacon story.  Reuters reports that pork belly supplies have waned as producers pushed pork this summer over beef, and while bacon prices in July were down more than 8 percent year over year, according to the federal Consumer Price Index, the dwindling supply might bode ill for shoppers going forward.

Denny’s is just out with a bacon milkshake; how are restaurants and fun-food venues in your area using the salty swine?