Foster Farms launches new Foster Imposter ads.

Foster Farms to West Coast consumers: don’t be fooled by the Foster Imposters! The mischievous feathered duo is at it again in 2008, and this time the birds are relentless in their efforts to dupe West Coast consumers. The antics of the Foster Imposters take center stage in three new entertaining television advertisements: “Opposite Day,” “Fortune Teller” and “100%.”

Airing throughout California, Oregon and Washington, the new advertisements feature the Imposters encouraging passersby to embrace Opposite Day, questioning the future with the help of a fortune teller and a misplaced chocolate malt ball, and campaigning door-to-door with some misleading arithmetic, all in an endless quest to qualify as 100 percent fresh and natural. In all three commercials, Foster Farms challenges the Imposters’ misleading claims with the new slogan, “At Foster Farms, Fresh and Natural Means Fresh and Natural.”

“We know that consumers care about what’s in their food,” says Greta Janz, vice president of marketing. “We are proud to offer West Coast families fresh, 100 percent natural, Foster Farms chicken and turkey products that never contain added sodium, steroids or hormones. These commercials reflect that pride.”

The new advertising campaign is supported by recent consumer research, including findings that:

— 82 percent of consumers value freshness above all else(1); and
— Nine out of 10 consumers believe that natural chicken should not contain any added ingredients(2).

“In ‘Opposite Day,’ the Imposters actually get it right for the first time ever — they truly are the very opposite of Foster Farms fresh chickens,” adds Janz. “While the Imposters travel thousands of miles on a junk food diet, 100 percent natural Foster Farms fresh chickens are locally-grown, corn-fed and never injected with salt water.”

The new Foster Imposter commercials were created in partnership with award-winning, San Francisco-based advertising firm Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (GSP). The new campaign reunites creative talent from the original 1993 Foster Imposter team, including direction by Tom Routson, voice talent by Bob Kerstetter, and creative supervision by Rich Silverstein working with writer, Tyler McKellar. Routson and Kerstetter were the original creative team for the 1993 campaign, with current GSP co-chairman Rich Silverstein as the creative director.

“Since their creative inception in 1993, the overly-ambitious Foster Imposters have won the hearts of viewers throughout the West Coast,” adds Silverstein. “Thanks to the campaign’s consistency in creative and messaging, and the longevity of our client-agency relationship with Foster Farms, each set of Foster Imposter advertisements achieve high awareness while entertaining and informing today’s consumer.”

For nearly 15 years, the Foster Imposters have appeared in more than 25 commercials and have continued to gain popularity among all age groups, with a growing fan base that is tens of thousands strong. This year’s new Foster Imposter commercials, including three new Spanish-language advertisements developed by award-winning firm Grupo Gallegos and launching February 18, will be viewable on the Imposter gaming Web site http://www.TheFosterImposters.com.