In this age where something new is coming out and is the latest trend for the month, marketing of a product needs to be creative to get people’s attention. However, this became really apparent when I was doomscrolling on TikTok and came across a video talking about a new book being promoted by partnering with Hellman’s Mayonnaise with a garlic scented version of the book. This truly made me think: is marketing being taken too far to try to get people’s attention and interest?
The author behind this unique collaboration is Jennifer L. Armentrout, known for romance fantasy novels that have everyone talking, whether for better or worse. People have either raved about her books or critiqued them for being cringy and just the same old book they’ve seen a thousand times before. She really grew to fame for her Blood and Ash series where a maiden in this fantasy world falls for a guard. People couldn’t stop talking about the series all over BookTok, either displaying their undying love for it or saying that it was like books they had seen before and had no diversity, along with weak writing. Either way, people were talking about the series and Armentrout. However, she has recently died down in discussion after publishing a whole series in the matter of a couple years. Until Mayogate…
Armentrout teamed up with Hellman’s Mayonnaise to promote her latest book, The Primal of Blood and Bone, the sixth book in the Blood and Ash series (yes, it’s still ongoing). In PR packages sent to influencers, Armentrout included a garlic aioli from Hellman’s, and a special garlic scented version of the book in a coffin. Now you may be wondering like I was when I first saw this: how does this have anything to do with this romance fantasy series about a maiden falling in love? Honestly, not enough to make the garlic mayo make sense. This installment simply follows the maiden, Poppy, as she must face the rise of the Great Conspirator, the big bad villain who has come back to life along with other big bads as vampires, after ridding of the Crown.
So, yes, the garlic makes sense for the novel. However, the partnering with Hellman’s to make an aioli to go with the book is truly the oddest PR move and never seen before and might not be again. In addition, think of the money that had to be involved into this deal for mayo. Many influencers agreed, talking about this package, unboxing it themselves, etc. Truly, this odd marketing strategy captivated the internet, whether they thought it was fun or absolutely ridiculous. One thing’s for sure: it had people talking about the book.
Maybe this is the kind of marketing that needs to be done to grab people’s attention. Maybe companies are needing to do so much more to simply get people to take interest that a mayo collaboration with an author may not be so weird. Who knows, maybe we’ll see authors partner with fast food chains to promote their books. It truly makes you think how extreme marketing has become to get people interested.