If you came to this site to find out about the biggest food brand failure of all time, you’ve hit the jackpot. At least, what I will describe is the most often mentioned food brand failure. You thought Coca-Cola’s New Coke was a bad idea? How about the leading baby food manufacturer in the United States for decades, trying to sell Gerber Adult Baby food? I’m talking about the infamous Gerber Singles.
In the early 1970s, the so-called baby boom was over. Gerber was not enjoying the type of sales bonanza the company was used to. Gerber was desperate to find new ways to cope with the drop in birth rate. So why not expand to new markets?
Gerber Adult Baby Food — The whole new way to eat whenever you’re alone
What new thing can a baby food company do? How about we create Gerber adult baby food? Let’s feed adults full meals out of small jars! Gerber Singles was launched in 1974. The line included small servings of fruit, vegetables, and meat entrees in small jars, perfect for one lonely adult eating at the kitchen counter at home. In fact, one of their taglines was “The whole new way to eat whenever you’re alone.” Nothing like a jar of creamed beef to cure that loneliness gnawing at your gut.
I can’t imagine what logic went into this product. Certainly, no market research was performed. From Gerber’s standpoint, it must have made sense to just repurpose the same old jars to a new customer base, use the same bottlers, the same formulas, etc. From the customer’s perspective, they may as well have been purchasing 5 gallons of ice cream and 20 TV dinners. What could scream “I’m a pathetic loser” more than buying adult baby food in jars? Everything about Gerber Singles was targeted to adults who lived alone.
Did Gerber Market a Big Mac and Fries Baby Food?
Gerber Adult Singles Flavors
Reportedly, there was not much difference between the food in these jars and regular Gerber baby food. I haven’t been calling it Gerber adult baby food for nothing. Here are some of the flavors offered:
- Beef Burgundy
- Ham Casserole
- Golden Chicken ‘n Sauce Supreme
- Turkey Mornay
- Sweet and Sour Pork
- Chicken Madeira
- Polynesian Chicken
- Creamed Beef
- Mediterranean Vegetables
- Creamed Spinach
- Blueberry Delight
As a Business Insider article put it, “packages of meat mush didn’t exactly scream ‘cool’ to young singles.”1 Spector, Dina (January 12, 2012). “The 11 Biggest Food Flops Of All Time”. Business Insider. Retrieved 17 Nov 2024. It’s not like most of us with children haven’t had a taste of jarred baby food. And it isn’t half bad. But we’re not going to make a meal out of it and we certainly aren’t going to purchase “adult baby food.”
The average adult knows that what’s good for a baby isn’t exactly something an adult will enjoy. Yet, the main tagline of the Gerber Singles line was “We were good for you then, we’re good for you now.”
The Old Familiar Marketing Trap
Gerber, in this instance, fell into a familiar trap. When things looked down, they focused on doing new things instead of doing their old thing better. When the chips are down, a successful brand will reaffirm its quality and refocus on what it does best. Instead of advertising new products, continue to remind customers why they depended on you in the first place. Eventually, those young adults had children.
Gerber knew all this but thought they needed something of a “holding action” to get them through the bad times. With this epic blunder, they managed to damage their brand’s reputation with those future customers! If you only know how make baby food, then make better baby food. If you’re going to expand, expand for babies, not adults.
The odd thing is, Gerber had been doing just that in the years preceding the Gerber Singles kerfuffle They had sold baby bottles, vaporizers, sterilizers, sterilizers, clothing, and even life insurance. Once, there was Gerber ketchup and Gerber peanut spread.
I’m not sure why Gerber ever sold ketchup, but peanut spread makes sense for babies. You can’t feed regular peanut butter to babies. It’s too thick and sticky and will get stuck in their mouth and potentially choke them. To give it to babies, you have to thin it. Even today, Gerber offers instructions on how to do this. So, selling a thinner “peanut spread” that is formulated to be safe for babies by a company that is expert at making baby food is a good idea. Of course, there is also a potential for an allergic reaction to peanuts, but most pediatricians would advise you to just start very slowly with tiny amounts.
Regardless, fewer babies mean fewer baby products being sold. So, you go back to your core. Gerber somehow thought they could get the babies who once at their food to think back and say, “Hmmm, I sure miss eating pureed food out of little jars.” Rediscover Gerber! “The next time you’re looking for a little something to eat, baby yourself with the unexpected snack.”
The company also recommended the contents of the jars as waffle toppings or to eat at work during your coffee break.
