Jones for a Jones?

I've long suspected that consumer marketers could have more fun with their products than those of us who have labored in the B2B or B2T or T2T or G2G (geeks selling to geeks) world I've built my career in. Not that development tools, IT controls management software, and DSP boards aren't fun, it's just that....

So it was with a slight trace of envy that I watched the Jones Soda marketers hit town. Boston Filter had a piece yesterday on their pie-flavored sodas, which sounded weird but digestible. Then one of the TV news outlets picked up on their even more unusual flavors: Turkey and Gravy soda anyone? Guess there's no more "Kids, you'll spoil your dinner!" warnings in households that pick up a Holiday Pack of Jones, that also includes Dinner Roll, Sweet Potato, Pea, and - thankfully - Antacid soda. And I thought Moxie - an old-time New England "tonic" that tastes like boiled tire treads -  was bad.

Jones soda is, of course, having some fun here, but it's fun with a good cause. If you buy the Dessert Pack (fruit pie flavors), a donation goes to St. Jude's Hospital for Children. If you really bite the bullet - or whatever the equivalent is for ghastly soda (gag the giblet for the turkey soda?) - and go for the Holiday Pack, the donation goes to Toys for Tots.

Great way for Jones to grab some headlines, do some good, and have some fun while they're at it. Nice marketing all round. I'm sure that the Holiday Packs show up as gag gifts (gag, indeed), stocking stuffers, and Yankee Swap items. (Note to my siblings: I've got dibs on this one.)