Dive Brief:

• Bush's Beans is supporting the national rollout of its "That Beautiful Bean Co." tagline in a collaboration with singer Josh Groban to replace the playground song, "Beans, Beans the Musical Fruit," with a new song. Groban wrote the new "Bean Song" and appears in a music video that coincides with the brand's new look, website and logo, per an announcement.
• The "That Beautiful Bean Co." tagline refers to the "roll that beautiful bean footage" catchphrase from past commercials that had become a meme, and updates the idea for a new group of consumers. Bush's Beans also introduced a line of beans called "Sidekicks" in four new flavors that can be used as a side dish, meal topper or ingredient in recipes.
• As part of the rollout of the "bean ballad," parent company Bush Brothers is donating 250,000 cans of beans to Feeding America, the nonprofit network of food banks, per its announcement. The rebrand follows similar efforts by other CPG companies that have sought to maintain momentum after sales surged early in the pandemic.

Dive Insight:

The Bush's Beans collaboration with Josh Groban is consistent with the self-deprecating sense of humor of past campaigns to exalt a lowly food staple into something that's almost otherworldly. The three-minute music video for the "Bean Song" starring the singer depicts him as a bean-loving child, complete with a full-grown beard, who overcomes classroom taunts and grows into an eloquent advocate for baked beans. The ironic sincerity of Groban's new "Bean Song" is likely to appeal consumers who are ready for advertising to be fun again amid the ongoing recovery from the pandemic.

"The next phase of Bush's evolution will focus on elevating the company as a contemporary, fun-loving and playful brand," Stephen Palacios, senior vice president of marketing and innovation at Bush Brothers & Co., said in a statement.

The Bush's Beans campaign comes as packaged food companies seek to maintain momentum — often by rebranding — after seeing a surge in sales as consumers stocked up their pantries during the onset of the pandemic, and cooked more meals while stuck at home during lockdowns. Rival packaged foods company Kraft Heinz saw its net sales rise 4.8% to $26.2 billion last year, a result that beat estimates and helped to reverse a longer-term decline in the value of its brands. Kellogg's said its organic sales rose 2.5% from a year earlier to $3.3 billion in the fourth quarter, marking a slowdown from the 4.5% and 9.2% gains in third and second quarters, respectively, a sign that revenue gains were moderating. As a privately held company, Bush Brothers doesn't report earnings.

Bush's Beans has carved out an identity as a brand that doesn't take itself too seriously. Last year, it kicked off a campaign to coincide with National Chili Day that starred actor Brian Baumgartner, who played the chili-loving character Kevin from "The Office" who accidentally dumps an unwieldy vat of his famous chili in the lobby at work. Bush's and Baumgartner not only created an original recipe featuring Bush's Beans, but also worked together on branded content for GIF-sharing platform Giphy. To expand its social media presence, Bush's Beans in 2019 hired an 18-year-old college freshman to run its @BushsBeans account on Twitter. The brand boosted its impressions on the social network 68 times and profile visits 35 times after enlisting Harrison McNeill, who had posted humorous content about beans to get the attention of brands, to create content for the platform.

Bush's Beans' latest campaign is another sign that brands are adding more levity in their advertising after people tired of ads with phrases like "in these uncertain times" during the pandemic. Among the more recent campaigns, candy brand Airheads spoofed the "skip ad" feature on video-sharing platforms like YouTube with a series of commercials. Procter & Gamble's Tide detergent brand began running humorous spots showing celebrities making cold calls to promote the benefits on washing clothes in cold water. Frito-Lay's Tostitos brand introduced a new flavor of tortilla chips with a multichannel campaign starring comedic actors Kate McKinnon and Dan Levy.