From highlighting “sauce-dom” with Team Canned and Team Homemade fans to bringing the party to the bottle, How You Cran™ shines the spotlight on how fans, family, and friends “cran” during the holiday season.
Move over pumpkin spice – it’s cranberry time. From November to December, Ocean Spray® will celebrate all the ways cranberries can turn even the most ordinary moments into the most entertaining.
Are You #TeamCanned or #TeamHomemade?
One of the most hotly contested issues each year is not in the political arena or the football field but in the kitchen. For years, many have pledged their alliance to two “saucy” teams, “Team Canned” or “Team Homemade.” The devotion of the fandom runs so deep it can cause some fans to agree to permanently ink their sauce preference on their body. A recent Material survey* commissioned by Ocean Spray® uncovered the extreme – and somewhat alarming – lengths “Cran Fans” are willing to go to get their saucy fix:
- More than half of Americans say cranberry sauce is a must-have for the holiday meal. In fact, of those fans, 83% believe it’s not even Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce.
- Nearly half (46%) say they are as passionate about their cranberry sauce preparation as their favorite sports team.
- 21% of Team Homemade fans are willing to get a tattoo in honor of cranberry sauce, compared to 15% of Team Canned
28% of cranberry fans even consider it a “red flag” if someone doesn’t like their preference for cranberry sauce. Regarding dating, recent in-app matching questions from OkCupid** revealed that your cranberry sauce preference can even affect your dating life. Here’s what OkCupid found:
- Daters who prefer homemade cranberry sauce get 18% more likes and 18% more matches on OkCupid, and they have 12% more conversations.
- Gen Z daters on OkCupid are the most likely to prefer homemade cranberry sauce.
- 70% of Gen Z prefer homemade cranberry sauce.
- 65% of Millennials prefer homemade cranberry sauce.
- 60% of Gen X prefer homemade cranberry sauce.
- Almost 4 in 10 men and women would rather be asked, “are you still single?” 10 times than not having cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving.
- 38% of men would rather be asked, “are you still single?” 10 times than forgo cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving.
- 38% of women would rather be asked, “are you still single?” 10 times than forgo cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving.
To continue spotlighting the cran-fan behavior, Ocean Spray® is working with popular “granfluencers,” Grandma Droniak and Cooking with Lynja, as well as other TikTok creators and real-life “cran fans” to show off their unique love for their favorite side dish. Fans will also notice influencers wearing new “fan gear.” Starting today, this new gear and more will be available for a limited time on www.OceanSprayMerch.com.
And for those who can’t pick a side or prefer to remain neutral, Ocean Spray® has teamed up with Baskin-Robbins® to introduce the perfect tiebreaker –Turkey Day Fixin’s Ice Cream. The November Flavor of the Month features a surprising and delicious combination of sweet potato and autumn spice ice creams mixed with honey cornbread pieces and swirls of Ocean Spray® cranberry sauce. The new flavor is giving Thanksgiving sides main dish energy all month long and is the perfect way to cool fans off from an impassioned day of rooting for their team.
“Ocean Spray has been teaching consumers ‘How You Cran™’ for nearly 95 years, and each year, the love for cranberries continues to grow in new ways,” said Monisha Dabek, SVP and Chief Commercial Officer, USA at Ocean Spray. “This year, I’m excited to say we’ve been inspired to think creatively about what we can do to react and engage with what our fans share and care about this holiday season. From new ‘granfluencers,’ fan gear, and real-life ‘cran fan’ moments, we are eager to see how cran-love will continue to grow for the next 95 years.”
Punching Up the Party with New Creative Ad Featuring Cranberry Juice Cocktail
On October 30, Ocean Spray® released a new ad spot highlighting one of its most famous products – Cranberry Juice Cocktail. The new spot, Power Your Party™, was developed by Orchard Creative (NYC) and directed by Jeff Low. The spot is meant to be a companion to Ocean Spray’s award-winning Power Your Holiday™ ad, affectionally referred to as “jiggle.” Much like “jiggle,” this new ad emphasizes how even just one drop of Ocean Spray® Cranberry Juice Cocktail can turn even the most boring party fun.
Throughout November and December, Ocean Spray® will amplify the new spot through a mix of online video and display banners in addition to linear and streaming TV. In December, Ocean Spray® will bring the party to life on their social channels to celebrate the holiday party season by highlighting how consumers can make their own “punch in a bottle” utilizing its famous 64 oz. Cranberry Juice Cocktail bottles. Users will be directed to make mocktail recipes they can take to their upcoming events and parties. Lastly, Ocean Spray® will work with creators on Pinterest to feature similar holiday mocktails that are the perfect addition to any gathering this season.
Follow along with all the How You Cran™ fun on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, and Pinterest, and pick up Ocean Spray® portfolio of products at various retailers nationwide.
*This survey was fielded by Material, a leading global insights firm serving as a partner to more than 100 of the Fortune 500 and thousands of smaller companies and organizations. The survey was conducted among 2,028 nationally representative adults, ages 18+ who live in the United States. The survey was conducted online from September 6, 2023 to September 15, 2023 and has a margin of error of +/- 2%. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. For more information about Material, please visit materialplus.io
**OkCupid data comes from user responses to its in-app matching questions. More information about OkCupid’s match questions can be found HERE.
