If you spent any time at all on Twitter last week, you probably noticed that the anime community is in the midst of a love affair with Nature Valley Granola Bars.
And you might be asking yourself, what does granola have to do with anime?
The answer is nothing at all, and therein lies the beauty of it.
Yes, yes and yes. RT @Tentacuddles: Are you an anime protagonist? Are you late for school? Grab a #NatureValley Bar. pic.twitter.com/JPyfliAlwW
— Nature Valley (@NatureValley) May 2, 2014
Here’s how it works: brands on Twitter have an incentive to reach out to potential customers, and usually that means people who seem to have overlapping interests. For a granola bar company, that might mean health nuts and hikers.
On the flip side, the anime community has a history of reaching out to unrelated American brands and asking them about anime. There’s something hilarious about the juxtaposition of KFC commenting on K-On or Walmart calling somebody “kawaii.”
It started on April 30 when the granola company responded to a tweet from @bemyanime:
We should get a trophy. RT @bemyanime: Anime Twitter’s new favorite brand is @NatureValley
— Nature Valley (@NatureValley) April 30, 2014
What happened with Nature Valley is that the company didn’t just stop at one tweet. The social media manager appears to be responding to nearly every person who mentions anime and granola in a single tweet, even though it’s been a week now since first contact. It’s also pretty apparent that, despite being unable to recognize Rei and Asuka from Evangelion, the manager is a fan just like us.
#Anime friends: Have you seen Voices of a Distant Star. An oldie but a goodie. Sad and philosophical. Just the way we like our anime. — Nature Valley (@NatureValley) May 1, 2014
And, as Anime Herald’s Mike Ferreira already noticed, everybody’s taking note, from Crunchyroll to Funimation to Otakon.
We did it! RT @Crunchyroll: Would like to extend our warmest welcome to our new addition to anitwitter, @NatureValley. — Nature Valley (@NatureValley) April 30, 2014
It’s true that Nature Valley would like to posit itself as a health food brand for nature lovers first and foremost. But this continued discussion shows awareness that there are people just as likely to eat sweet, prepackaged food in bar-form—geeks traveling to conventions.
What do you think about Nature Valley’s current anime spree? Do you think it’ll last?