Photo Caption:
|  |
Before being acquired by Phillip Morris in 1986, General Foods Corporation embarked on an advertising campaign to create a series of photographs depicting various aspects of life in America that could be used to promote some of their more notable products, such as Maxwell House Coffee. In 1983, as part of this series, they produced a heart-warming television commercial about Maxwell House Coffee, reportedly filmed at Maine’s Cape Neddick “Nubble” Lighthouse when John Terry was serving as keeper. This was later followed by a two-page magazine advertisement that appeared in publications nationwide. The commercial and magazine advertisement continued well into the time when Robert French was the keeper at Nubble Light from 1984 to 1986.
The television commercial starts with a damp and foggy scene of a young man taking photographs of the Cape Neddick Lighthouse when a young boy comes up to him and questions, “Watcha doin’ Mister?” To which the man answers, “Takin’ pictures of that lighthouse.” The youngster, with pride in his voice, replies, “That’s my grandpa’s lighthouse.” The man then says, “It is? I’d like to put your grandpa’s lighthouse in my book.”
Suddenly, Grandpa, a distinguished and kindly-looking, elderly gentlemen, appears, and with a friendly voice says, “Sounds interesting. Want to see the inside? We’ve got some hot coffee brewing.”
The scene then changes to a Norman Rockwell-like setting in the kitchen at the lighthouse where the little boy’s grandparents and the young photographer are sitting around the table next to a window that overlooks the water and the community in the distance as they sip Maxwell House Coffee, while the all too familiar Maxell House Coffee theme song is being played. As the music drops off, the scene goes to the little boy who is now sound asleep, cuddled up with his dog.
General Foods followed up the successful television campaign with two-page magazine ads that followed the spirit of the television commercials. Both depicted what the average American dreamed of what lighthouse life was like.
Written at the bottom of this two-page magazine advertisement, it stated:
“Cape Neddick, Maine: One of a series of photographs about the American people, the American spirit, the American land. 1984 General Foods Corp.”
In describing the image of the young man sitting between the lighthouse couple at the kitchen table, presumably in the light keeper’s house, it was written:
“Sailors call it ‘The Light on the Rock.’ I met the folks who call it home.
They invited me in and showed me how, for over a century, the lighthouse has guided ships through thick Atlantic fog.
We shared a pot of coffee and a plate of cranberry muffins and watched the boats and the dusk move slowly to shore.
And I knew there couldn’t be anywhere like Cape Neddick, Maine.”
All in all, it was a great commercial for the community where the lighthouse is located and, of course, for Maxwell House Coffee. It was also great public relations for lighthouses and the keepers and the families who lived at them.
Millions of people who saw the television and magazine ads believed that what they were seeing was true. But other than the Cape Neddick Lighthouse itself and Maxwell House Coffee, the rest of the ad was made up – it was fake, but it left people with a warm and fuzzy feeling, exactly what General Foods wanted to accomplish and just like people’s love for lighthouses.
Back to the edition of: Jan/Feb 2021
|
