Rifai Nuts - not just brand extension new packaging too!

I hate it when I am right. A few months ago an agency launched a teaser, I immediately wrote them back saying "so at 1 minute 28 seconds is your concept, a good one" - few days later when the revealer came guess what was the concept?... Another story a friend showed me an ad and told me "this is influenced by this ad", and I said "no, this is influence by this other ad" - when the friend saw my reference he was gob smacked! You see my reasoning was simple the creative director behind the ad worked at a specific agency which did the reference ad so he simply copied it. And so on and so forth, so yesterday when I spoke about Rifai having a brand extension (here) I was waiting for the other shoe to drop... The new packaging.

And here we are, 8 new varieties and mixes in a new packaging. Note that the logo was revamped when the business was sold (the Swedish arm was sold long ago, and now came the Lebanese one about 2 years ago). Anyhow, the packaging is nice and clean. Not sure consumers even look at the bags as long as the logo is there. But still, an effort was made to present a unified look for everything - a bit more "new" than the older bags. Now, all that silly copy on the ad could have been left out, because seriously, who cares?

Rifai Nuts goes for brand extension with butters

My first reflex was... What? Then I thought - wait a minute they could be on to something here. Rifai known "passion for nuts since 1948" (apparently this is their signature) is going brand extension with nut butter. As I said, it took me a bit aback but then again there is logic to it. After all, Rifai stores do not only sell their inhouse brand (you can go from regular to ultra upscale), but also majors "gourmet" accoutrements - sweets of many kinds, etc... So going for nut butter, especially when it is claimed to be associated with such a renowned brand is not too far of a stretch (available in almond, pistachio and peanut butter). Also "no additives, plastic free, reusable jar, 20 gram protein per 100 grams, no oil" or so says the small animated ad online (here). Interestingly these come with a line "spread summer joy" - mind you the "spread" (for butter as a double-entendre has been done before) but interesting these are labelled as "summer products" (whereas peanut butter is an all-year long thing in the United States).