Ocean Spray’s brand boss on working with Bryan Cranston on holiday ad

Bryan Cranston is famous for his intense and captivating roles. For Ocean Spray’s holiday campaign, the Breaking Bad actor steps into the role of Cranpus, a cranberry-loving, half-man, half-goat creature who can’t bear to share. So obsessed with cranberries, he starts hoarding them everywhere: at barbecues, cocktail parties and even holiday dinners with family.

In ’Just Add Cran, Beware of the Cranpus,’ viewers see Cranston, dressed in a striking costume with curled horns. The look draws inspiration from Krampus, a horned, anthropomorphic figure from Central and Eastern Alpine folklore who is said to accompany Saint Nicholas on visits to children on the night of December 5. It’s a unique approach for Ocean Spray, but one it hopes will help cut through the masses of holiday ads.

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“Holiday is our biggest season of the year,” explains Trinh Le, vice-president of USA branded marketing at Ocean Spray. “It’s harvest.”

Each year, the brand’s Fall Harvest Celebration brings New England’s cranberry season to life in the heart of Patriot Place in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Cranberries and autumn harvests carry significant cultural and seasonal symbolism, which Ocean Spray effectively leverages. “Consumers are so fascinated with our bog,” Le continues.

“The harvest is one of those areas that has a little bit of myth behind it. You even hear the stories about the wolf spiders in the bog (they’re really not there), but there’s a little bit of myth behind our harvest and the bog. And so, creating this character takes it in a new way and a way that only a brand that has cranberries can tell, right? Because there’s a little bit of mystery in a way that other brands don’t have.”

Never mind the spiders, according to brand legend, Cranpus has been living under the Ocean Spray bog for 300 years. This fun storytelling is something that attracted Cranston to the role. The team at ad agency Piggyback had come up with lots of ideas and one of them was written for Cranston, who says that all his life he has had the nickname ‘Cranny’ or ‘Cranman’ and that, on occasion, a friend will shout ‘Hey, Cranberry!’

“We created a story and sent him some scripts and it just really resonated with him in a way that we were so excited about,” says Le. “He really, really partnered with the team to co-create this Cranpus character. He had a big role in the story, but also the tonality and even the wardrobe.”

The premise for the campaign was to make it as “big and bold” as possible while leaning into storytelling in a way the brand hadn’t done before. “We wanted it to be fun and playful and mischievous,” Le explains. “That was the balance that we had with this character, of telling the story that we felt people could really resonate with that tells the essentiality of cranberries, does it in a fun, playful way, but also one that highlights our full portfolio of products and what happens when you take them away from people during holidays.”

The marketers were not concerned about the idea being too out there, but there were numerous in-depth discussions about how they could craft a rich story that everyone would truly understand.

Since springtime, Ocean Spray and its ad agency have been chipping away at this film. During the filming days, seeing Cranston work was something to behold, Le says. “The first time we saw him walk out in full costume, with the horns, the amount of detail that they put into that costume, and actually how proud he was to show us the details he went down to his nails, it was amazing,” she adds, noting that none of Cranston’s outfit was CGI. The talented costume department made everything from scratch.

“I think my favorite scene to film was the karaoke scene when he hits those high notes. He has so many different takes on that I was amazed that he could do take after take after take.”

It’s the second year of the ’Just Add Cran’ campaign and there was a need to “break through” across a variety of different mediums. Social media has played a significant role in Ocean Spray’s story over the last few years. Nobody can forget TikTok sensation Nathan Apodaca on his skateboard, downing some juice to the tune of Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams. It wasn’t something the brand planned, but they did try to “leverage” it.

Moving forward, the brand aims to adopt a more “social-first” approach. “You’ll see that we’re bringing that Cranpus character and that story across our social,” adds Le. “He’s taken over our social media accounts starting this past weekend.” Ocean Spray is placing a significant emphasis on Meta platforms, Le says, particularly Instagram, where the brand has nearly 100,000 followers.

“For us, this is all about cranberries and the essentiality of cranberries during the holidays. And you know, what we want to do is find a new, fun way to bring it to life that really resonates with consumers. So we’re incredibly excited.”

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