Gotta say, as marketing ploys go, this is pretty good: The small Florida town of Mayo has agreed to change its name to Miracle Whip temporarily “as part of a branding prank to draw attention to the city and the Kraft Heinz salad dressing product,” says USA Today.
Kraft tried to keep the change’s marketing (and temporary) angle under wraps, as town officials made statements to the public. For example, Mayor Ann Murphy exclaimed, “We aren’t going to be boring Mayo anymore. We are going to be Miracle Whip! I definitely think this will put us on the map.”
But it’s not easy to keep a secret in a town of only 1,500 people, so the jig is apparently up. The Kraft promotions team still plans on “to capture video footage of residents talking about the name change and swapping out the mayonnaise in their refrigerator with Miracle Whip.” For changing out its name for several days, the town will receive up to $25,000 in beautification funds.
It should be noted that the town originally is not named after a condiment, but a Confederate colonel. It should also be noted that the last time a large institution tried to say that its jarring name change was forever for a marketing scheme, few people bought that either.