Oscar statuettes may not be the only gold items viewers will be watching out for at the Academy Awards this Sunday.
Grey Poupon, the upscale mustard brand, has released a trailer for a new ad titled “Pardon Me” — an extended version of its classic 1981 commercial — to air during the Feb. 24 ceremony.
The trailer, dubbed “The Lost Footage,” starts out the same way the original commercial does, with a young man in the backseat of a chauffered car rolling up next to an older gentleman and asking, “Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?” The older man hands over a jar of the white wine-based Dijon mustard through the car window. But if you thought the younger man was just borrowing some mustard, you’re wrong — or, as the ad’s narrator says, “Egregiously mistaken”.
The Associated Press reports that parent company Kraft Foods may be bringing back the popular ad in an effort to boost the Grey Poupon brand — as sales are, dare we say, failing to cut the mustard:
Over the past four years, the company says Grey Poupon’s sales have been flat to down as more mustards and other condiments have appeared on the shelves. Its share of the US mustard market has fallen from 13.7% in 2003 to 11.4% last year, according to a market researcher.
While anyone can tune into the Academy Awards and watch the ad on Sunday, remember that Grey Poupon does not let just anyone “like” its Facebook page. The company’s “Good Taste Society” screens fans’ social media profiles before deigning to allow them in. If you expected otherwise, you were egregiously mistaken.
Here’s the original 1981 Grey Poupon commercial:
And here’s the Wayne’s World parody: