“Have you eaten yet?” – it’s an expression of concern, but also a way of emphasising a family bond in the original and entertaining new spot from Panda Express and agency Opinionated. The brand is building on the success of its Lunar New Year campaign, which took viewers into a New Year dinner as one family’s formidable aunties grilled a nervous new boyfriend of one of the family’s younger members.
That ad was the sign of a brand which is keen to embrace its Asian-American heritage and tell stories that come out of the culture but which have a universal resonance too. This new commercial has been released for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, and it shows some more aunties, but this time with a softer side. They’ve recorded a karaoke video for a startled young relative, admitting that they can’t always express the emotions they want to directly, so they channel it through that simple, typical question: “Have You Eaten Yet?”. As it happens, he hasn’t, and there’s an easy Panda Express solution to that.
“'Have You Eaten Yet?' is how love is expressed across countless kitchen tables in American households. At Panda, we're celebrating this universal truth – that sometimes the deepest care isn't spoken directly but served on a plate. Through our Aunties' stories, we’re sharing this beautiful cultural expression that resonates far beyond Asian American communities to anyone who’s ever been asked this simple question by someone who loves them.”
Fabiola del Rio
Vice President of Integrated Marketing Communications, Panda Express
An ad like this which comes from the life experiences of people within a particular culture carries both huge potential and some possible risks. As we talk about in our Feeling Seen report, for ads that show and spotlight a particular demographic group there’s a sweet spot where the ad is appealing to a wider public but resonates even better with members of that group. It creates what we call a “Diversity Dividend”, unlocking both wide public effectiveness and boosted impact for the target group.
On the other hand, ads can fall flat with the public – if they simply don’t ‘get it’ – or be seen as simplistic and stereotypical by the people in the group. That’s something to bear in mind particularly in a demographic group like Asian Americans, which includes so many different heritages and cultures.
So it’s great to report that Panda Express get things exactly right here. “Have You Eaten Yet” performs well across the board with a general audience, who get the idea easily and relate to it. But then the ad works brilliantly with a sample we used of Asian Americans, who boost it to a very strong 4.6-Star Rating and an exceptional short-term Spike Rating. Brand Fluency is also higher, as you’d expect for a leading Asian food chain. The Asian American sample love the theme of the ad, with several comments mentioning how true it was to their memories of growing up and of the way their aunties used food to show their love.
Turning a cultural insight like this into an ad which feels authentic but still communicates well to a broader public is one of the hardest things for a brand to do. Panda Express have pulled it off. The karaoke element is ready made for wider executions across social media, and the aunties are charming characters, so the brand may be asking us all “Have You Eaten Yet?” for many ads to come.
The most effective ads boost sales and drive long-term growth. They do it by making people feel more - building positive associations with a recognisable brand. We predict sales and growth impacts by measuring emotion, letting you make ads that entertain for commercial gain.
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