Coronavirus Latest: Frozen-Meat Company Steak-umm Transforms Into Voice Of Reason During Pandemic
READING, Pa. (CBS) -- By now, everyone has heard the same phrase "uncertain times" over and over in marketing campaigns. But a popular frozen-meat brand from Berks County is taking that one step further, developing a message that is getting a lot of attention.
It's the Reading-based company known for its thinly sliced meat as much as its eccentric TV commercials. But now Steak-umm's messaging has transformed into a voice of reason during the coronavirus pandemic.
"media literacy in the internet age is incredibly difficult to develop. you have to navigate special interest groups, trolls, ads, conspiracies, fake accounts, satire, sensationalism, and beyond, in order to find credible source material and relevant experts buried under the mess," one tweet reads.
media literacy in the internet age is incredibly difficult to develop. you have to navigate special interest groups, trolls, ads, conspiracies, fake accounts, satire, sensationalism, and beyond, in order to find credible source material and relevant experts buried under the mess
— Steak-umm (@steak_umm) April 20, 2020
From tweets about sensationalism to science, its social media accounts have been thoughtful, informative and at times, a call for humanity.
"We all need to work together," Steak-umm Marketing Director Joey Piazza, of Bethlehem, said. "It's a very divisive time. And as a brand with a platform of hundreds of thousands of people, and that exposure, our goal is to try and just bring everybody together."
The company may be doing more than that.
A Temple University marketing professor says Steak-umm is also humanizing its food brand with messaging that's positive and has people talking.
"It has nothing to do with their actual product, but it gives them the engagement or popularity they need," Subodha Kumar said.
"Is the social media manager of a frozen meat company eligible for a MacArthur Genius Grant?" Seth Masket, the director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver, wrote in a tweet.
"I'm impressed, never had a Steak-umm, never used the word, but will try 'em out...," Craigslist Founder Craig Newark wrote in a tweet.
I'm impressed, never had a steak-umm, never used the word, but will try 'em out... https://t.co/Prvtj1uNga
— craig newmark (@craignewmark) April 14, 2020
Still, Steak-umm's marketing team says they're just being authentic and offering light during dark days.
"It's going to take people working together to get through this and we want to be a part of that in any way we possibly can be," Piazza said.
That's something everyone can chew on.