Peperami
Encyclopedia
Peperami is a pork sausage snack manufactured by Unilever
in Germany
and Britain
. According to Unilever, it was first shipped to the UK by accident in a container which was supposed to be carrying pâté
. The company decided to attempt to sell the shipment to the UK market under the brand name 'Peperami'. Several new varieties have been introduced over the years with varying degrees of success. Peperami may be interpreted as a portmanteau of the words "pepperoni
" and "salami
", but the company does not want the product to be misunderstood as a combination of these different meats. In the year 1955, Peperami was one of the products from Nabisco
. When the mistake was made, the company tried the meat snack and enjoyed it. Thus, Unilever
relaunched the snack.
In 2007, to try to retain appeal to an ever more health conscious market, the manufacturers of Peperami revised the formula to produce a product with a reduction in fat, saturated fat and salt content.
In Germany, the snack is alternatively sold as BiFi
and instead made out of beef. Some discontinued peperami products in Britain are still available under the BiFi brand in Germany. Another spin-off snack in Germany is the Ranger stick.
In 2011, Peperami released a series of dog toys featuring the familiar Animal character. Toys include the "Salami saucer", "salami screamer", "the little nipper", "the big one", "meaty muncher", "the football fetch toy", "sausage stretch" and "flaming finger"
. The product is marketed as The Spicy Meat Snack with the slogan "Peperami: It's a Bit of an Animal".
Each variant of Peperami has a different version of the tagline. The snack size types are marketed under the tagline "Peperami Mini: It's a Little Bit of an Animal". (changed to "Peperami Lunchbox Minis: It's a Little Bit of an Animal"). The hot variety was marketed with the tagline "Peperami Hot: It's a Fiery Peperami". The firestick variety was marketed with the tagline "New Firestick: It's a Red Hot Peperami". The noodles were marketed with the tagline "Peperami Noodles: It's Peperami, Gone a Bit Noodles". The barbecue flavour was only marketed with the tagline "New BBQ Flavour Peperami". A video game, Animal
, was made featuring the Peperami character. For a brief period in 2007, Peperami had a new slogan, "Peperami, 100% Pork Salami". When the Gobbler was still available, the slogan was "New Peperami Gobbler: It's A Bit of Alright". The Cheezie variant never had a slogan, instead the cheezie character would normally say something ( Usually Any Hotter, I'd be Fondue )next to an image of the snack and 'New!' banner. The Cheezie character appeared in the first four advertisements for the snack. He resembled a yellow version of "the animal" with hair, and ran a fictional radio station.
In the late 1980s, starting in 1987, before "the animal" was featured in the advertiments, a series of advertisements with the slogan "Get Your Teeth Into A Peperami" aired instead. One such advertisement from 1989 titled Venus Fly Trap saw a man feed a venus fly trap a Peperami.
Unilever
recently decided to drop its ad agency of 16 years, Lowe, and has turned to the crowdsourcing platform IdeaBounty to find creative ideas for its next Peperami TV campaign. Unilever had worked with Lowe on the snack food brand since 1993, but decided to crowdsource its brief and take “The Animal” to the public, rather than a small team of creatives. The result was the advert for the latest product, Peperami Nibblers, marketed with the tagline "New Peperami Nibblers: They're Little Bits of an Animal". Likewise, Unilever used integrated agency Billington Cartmell to tie into the 2010 Football World Cup, with the character – now transformed into the "Fanimal" – on posters (notably in pub's gents toilets with risque slogans), print ads, radio spots, an interactive website and even distributed in the form of a shouting rubber mascot.
Other advertisements, in other media aside from television, include Animal
, released in 1996 as an advergame, and a notable ad, printed in magazines and on billboards, featured the "Animal" burning on a heater, as a launch for their new Firestick flavour. This ad was accompanied by a television advert titled Arson Fire (which was a remake of the ad for the Hot flavour).
Some of the television adverts appear on the Peperami website. These are Horror Movie (July 1993), Wimp (March 1994), Kebab (May 1994), Arson Fire (March 2004), Tender (September 2008) and Exfoliate (September 2008)
It's a Fiery Peperami (for Peperami Hot)
It's a Red Hot Peperami (2004, for Peperami Firestick)
It's Peperami, Gone a Bit Noodles (for Peperami Noodles)
It's a Bit More of an Animal (for Peperami Wideboy)
New BBQ Flavour Peperami (for BBQ Peperami)
It's a Bit of Alright (1996, for Peperami Gobbler)
Any Hotter, I'd be Fondue (1997, for Peperami Cheezie)
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. According to Unilever, it was first shipped to the UK by accident in a container which was supposed to be carrying pâté
Pâté
Pâté is a mixture of ground meat and fat minced into a spreadable paste. Common additions include vegetables, herbs, spices, and either wine or cognac, armagnac or brandy...
. The company decided to attempt to sell the shipment to the UK market under the brand name 'Peperami'. Several new varieties have been introduced over the years with varying degrees of success. Peperami may be interpreted as a portmanteau of the words "pepperoni
Pepperoni
Pepperoni is a spicy Italian-American variety of salami usually made from cured pork and beef, but poultry may be added, if labeled correctly, for less expensive versions. Pepperoni is characteristically soft, slightly smoky, and bright red in color...
" and "salami
Salami
Salami is cured sausage, fermented and air-dried meat, originating from one of a variety of animals. Historically, salami has been popular among Southern European peasants because it can be stored at room temperature for periods of up to 10 years, supplementing a possibly meager or inconsistent...
", but the company does not want the product to be misunderstood as a combination of these different meats. In the year 1955, Peperami was one of the products from Nabisco
Nabisco
Nabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...
. When the mistake was made, the company tried the meat snack and enjoyed it. Thus, Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
relaunched the snack.
In 2007, to try to retain appeal to an ever more health conscious market, the manufacturers of Peperami revised the formula to produce a product with a reduction in fat, saturated fat and salt content.
In Germany, the snack is alternatively sold as BiFi
BiFi (snack)
BiFi is a German brand of sausage-based snacks manufactured by Unilever Germany. In the original version, it is a thin, jerky-like salami; variations include a poultry-based salami, a salami wrapped in a white or wheat roll , a roll filled with beef, beans and bacon , and a roll filled with...
and instead made out of beef. Some discontinued peperami products in Britain are still available under the BiFi brand in Germany. Another spin-off snack in Germany is the Ranger stick.
In 2011, Peperami released a series of dog toys featuring the familiar Animal character. Toys include the "Salami saucer", "salami screamer", "the little nipper", "the big one", "meaty muncher", "the football fetch toy", "sausage stretch" and "flaming finger"
Main types
- Original, sold in a green packet (available in regular and snack size types). Introduced 1955. Spiciness: Mild.
- Hot, sold in a red packet (available in regular and snack size types). Introduced 1992. Spiciness: Hot.
- Firestick, sold in a black packet (available in regular only). Introduced 2003. Spiciness: Extremely Hot.
- Barbecue, sold in a purple packet (available in regular and snack size types); a barbecue-flavoured version of the Original. Introduced 2009. Spiciness: Mild.
- Wideboy, sold in a green packet and the same flavour as Original; only wider in dimension. Introduced 1996.
Different variants
- Peperami Dunkers, a snack-size sausage with a dipping sauce
- Peperami 'Bunch of Five', packs containing five small Peperami sticks, introduced 1995.
- Peperami Nibblers, bite-size sausages (about half the length of the snack-size sausages) in a bag. Introduced 2010
- Peperami Lunchbox Minis, formerly Peperami Minis. A small bag of snack-size sausage, similar to Dunkers. Launched as Lunchbox Minis in 2008.
- Peperami Pizza, a 7" thin crust cheese and tomato pizza with peperami slices in lieu of peperoni. Distributed by Bakkovar, who made its unique crisping disk. Introduced 2009.
- Pork Farms Peperami Spicy Hit: 6 Snack Sausage Rolls, six small sausage rolls - the sausage is a Peperami.
Discontinued variants
- Peperami Sarni, a handheld snack with sausage, tomato sauce ,and cheese, wrapped in soft bread. Introduced 2004.
- Canniballs, a sausage wrapped in crusty brown bread. Introduced 2004
- Peperami Noodles, a snack similar to Super NoodlesSuper NoodlesSuper Noodles are a dehydrated instant noodle snack, made by Batchelors in the UK and sold under the McDonnells brand in the Republic of Ireland. They are prepared by being placed in a saucepan of boiling water, adding the sachet of flavouring, and stirring...
which comes with Peperami slices and powdered flavouring. Introduced 2005 - Cheezie Peperami sold in an yellow packet; a version of the Original pepperami but made entirely from a "spicy" processed cheese. Introduced August 1997
- Peperami in a Roll, sold in a green packet; an Original Peperami wrapped in hard bread. The BiFiBiFi (snack)BiFi is a German brand of sausage-based snacks manufactured by Unilever Germany. In the original version, it is a thin, jerky-like salami; variations include a poultry-based salami, a salami wrapped in a white or wheat roll , a roll filled with beef, beans and bacon , and a roll filled with...
version, BiFi Roll Pepperoni, is still available. Introduced 2006. - Gobbler, sold in a purple packet (the colour was later acquired by the barbecue flavour); a turkey-flavoured version of the Original. Introduced 1996.
Advertising
The brand is advertised by "the Animal" ("That crazy wee fella"), voiced by Adrian EdmondsonAdrian Edmondson
Adrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson is an English comedian. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones and Bottom , for which he also wrote together with his long-time collaboration partner Rik Mayall.-Early life:Edmondson, the second of four children, was...
. The product is marketed as The Spicy Meat Snack with the slogan "Peperami: It's a Bit of an Animal".
Each variant of Peperami has a different version of the tagline. The snack size types are marketed under the tagline "Peperami Mini: It's a Little Bit of an Animal". (changed to "Peperami Lunchbox Minis: It's a Little Bit of an Animal"). The hot variety was marketed with the tagline "Peperami Hot: It's a Fiery Peperami". The firestick variety was marketed with the tagline "New Firestick: It's a Red Hot Peperami". The noodles were marketed with the tagline "Peperami Noodles: It's Peperami, Gone a Bit Noodles". The barbecue flavour was only marketed with the tagline "New BBQ Flavour Peperami". A video game, Animal
Animal (video game)
Animal is a video game starring the Peperami character, voiced by Ade Edmondson. It is a point-and-click adventure puzzle game that also includes a 'shoot 'em up' component, called 'eat-em-up' since the game is set in a universe in which food products are personified...
, was made featuring the Peperami character. For a brief period in 2007, Peperami had a new slogan, "Peperami, 100% Pork Salami". When the Gobbler was still available, the slogan was "New Peperami Gobbler: It's A Bit of Alright". The Cheezie variant never had a slogan, instead the cheezie character would normally say something ( Usually Any Hotter, I'd be Fondue )next to an image of the snack and 'New!' banner. The Cheezie character appeared in the first four advertisements for the snack. He resembled a yellow version of "the animal" with hair, and ran a fictional radio station.
In the late 1980s, starting in 1987, before "the animal" was featured in the advertiments, a series of advertisements with the slogan "Get Your Teeth Into A Peperami" aired instead. One such advertisement from 1989 titled Venus Fly Trap saw a man feed a venus fly trap a Peperami.
Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
recently decided to drop its ad agency of 16 years, Lowe, and has turned to the crowdsourcing platform IdeaBounty to find creative ideas for its next Peperami TV campaign. Unilever had worked with Lowe on the snack food brand since 1993, but decided to crowdsource its brief and take “The Animal” to the public, rather than a small team of creatives. The result was the advert for the latest product, Peperami Nibblers, marketed with the tagline "New Peperami Nibblers: They're Little Bits of an Animal". Likewise, Unilever used integrated agency Billington Cartmell to tie into the 2010 Football World Cup, with the character – now transformed into the "Fanimal" – on posters (notably in pub's gents toilets with risque slogans), print ads, radio spots, an interactive website and even distributed in the form of a shouting rubber mascot.
Other advertisements, in other media aside from television, include Animal
Animal (video game)
Animal is a video game starring the Peperami character, voiced by Ade Edmondson. It is a point-and-click adventure puzzle game that also includes a 'shoot 'em up' component, called 'eat-em-up' since the game is set in a universe in which food products are personified...
, released in 1996 as an advergame, and a notable ad, printed in magazines and on billboards, featured the "Animal" burning on a heater, as a launch for their new Firestick flavour. This ad was accompanied by a television advert titled Arson Fire (which was a remake of the ad for the Hot flavour).
Some of the television adverts appear on the Peperami website. These are Horror Movie (July 1993), Wimp (March 1994), Kebab (May 1994), Arson Fire (March 2004), Tender (September 2008) and Exfoliate (September 2008)
Slogans
Meat content
Peperami Original is generally made with 37.5g of pork meat for every 25g of sausage and Peperami Wideboy is made from 60g of pork meat per 40g sausage. The discrepancy is due to weight loss when the meat is dried, from the loss of moisture in the meat.Fat content
- Peperami Original are 44% fat.
- Peperami Wideboy are 49% fat.
- Peperami Hot are 44% fat.
- Peperami Firestick are 44% fat.
- Peperami Mini are 30% fat.
External links
- Peperami website
- Unilever goes crowdsourcing to spice up Peperami's TV ads , By Mark Sweeney, The Guardian, August 25, 2009.