Jell-O pulls plug on longtime ad firm

NEW YORK {AP}- Ad agency Young & Rubicam can start spelling Jell-O this way: G-O-N-E.

Kraft Foods has pulled the Jell-O account from Y&R; after more than 74 years of ads that had helped make the jiggly dessert an American icon.

The Northfield, Ill.-based company said it had given the account to another of its ad agencies, Foote, Cone & Belding in New York, citing a desire to try a new approach.

"With so many new snack and dessert products on the market, we believe we need to explore a new strategic and creative direction for the brand," Dave Johnson, a Kraft Foods executive, said last week.

He said Foote Cone has "a great track record" creating ads for other Kraft brands such as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinners, DiGiornio Pizza and Cool Whip Whipped Topping. Foote Cone has worked for Kraft for 46 years.

Kraft Foods declined to say how much it spends advertising the brand but the ad spending monitor Competitive Media Reporting estimated it at $67.6 million last year. A Y&R; insider said the agency handled about $35 million to $40 million of that.

The Jell-O brand is 103 years old and sells more than $100 million a year in gelatin, pudding and dessert bars.

New York-based Y&R; became the agency for Jell-O in 1926.

The agency once featured a jingle in Jell-O ads to remind children how to spell the brand's name and find it in the grocery store.

Over the past 25 years, it has frequently featured entertainer Bill Cosby and children in Jell-O ads, having fun eating or at least talking about eating the snack.

A Kraft Foods spokeswoman, Kathy Knuth, said Y&R;'s dismissal on the Jell-O account does not mean Cosby will no longer appear in ads for the brand.

She said the company recently signed a new contract with Cosby. "He is part of the brand equity of Jell-O and we will be looking for new ways to work with him in the future," she said.

The latest Y&R; ads for the brand carried the theme "I could go for something Jell-O," and agency insiders felt that the campaign was helping boost sales.

"We are sorry to see the great brand we helped create leave Y&R;," agency spokesman Philippe Krakowsky said. "We look forward to growing our relationship with Kraft Foods in other categories, as well as helping new Kraft brands such as Balance Bar achieve the same lasting success that Jell-O has enjoyed."

Y&R;, which recently agreed to be acquired by the British advertising agency company WPP Group PLC, continues to work for Kraft on brands such as Crystal Light Soft Drink Mix, General Foods International Coffees and Toblerone Chocolate.