Mike and Ike might have been a popular candy years ago, but the brand is in need of a facelift. Enter the Elevator Group, an ad agency that has chosen a pretty progressive tactic for getting young people to care about the candy again: gay divorce.
That's right folks, Mike and Ike are heading for splitsville, so Mike can work on his music and Ike can work on his art. This separation is realized through new packaging, which has logos with either "Mike" or "Ike" scrubbed out reports the New York Times. The Times also reports that billboards with the scrubbed-out names will begin appearing in July, including an animated billboard in Times Square.
The full ramifications of the split is really evident online, especially on Facebook, YouTube and Tumblr. On April 10, Ike posted on Tumblr:
I know it’s hard to believe, but yes – Mike and I split. It is what it is. We just couldn’t agree on stuff anymore. Some call it creative differences? Whatever. The guy is awesome, if you don’t count that he’s color blind. Lime is green dude! Cherry is red, not purple. Get it? Go write some songs since that seems to be where your focus is right now.
Mike shared his side:
Heard about Ike and me splitting up? Yeah, it’s true. We just don’t agree on the candy. My red, his red, my lime, his lime, my box ideas, his box ideas. So over it. Instead of all this hassle, now I’m just gonna jam. Been laying down heat with my friend Blaze. Planning to hit all the music capitals in the next few months. No sitting at home solo playing Words With Friends (that’s something Ike would do).
Looks like some people close to Mike and Ike are taking the news pretty hard. Check out some of the YouTube spots:
"It's like Kobe and Shaq all over again":
"They'll be back together, I know they'll be back together":
When I heard the news, I was devastated":