"Little Trees" Taste Way Better Than Broccoli

I came across a TikTok the other day that immediately brought me back to the old school days of Mommy Shorts. Back in the days when we talked about simple little kid problems like your toddler carrying around a plastic shovel like it was his new best friend or your 4yo refusing to eat anything without ketchup. Do you remember the Picky Eaters Club? If you weren’t following back then, the “Picky Eaters Club” was a very easy club to to join. All you had to do to induct your child was announce them to the Mommy Shorts audience along with their ridiculously specific food restriction, request or hang-up.

For instance, Harlow was a card carrying member.

Mazzy was a member too.

This last one relates back to the tiktok I mentioned. It’s from a dad named Justin who credits this kind of successful food name change back to a term all marketers know and love: REBRANDING.

I’m going to embed the full video below (because I believe that’s the proper way to give him credit), but the video is just the caption pictured over his face, so there no real reason to press play. It says….

“If you are not convinced of the power of marketing, my two-year-old recently decided that he doesn’t want to eat lunch anymore, so my wife and I made the move to rebrand the meal as ‘big snack’ without making any changes to the (already varied and rotating) menu and it’s now his favorite meal.”

@high.center.of.gravityWe also just act excited about everything and that helps at least 30 percent of the time. #mealtime #toddlersoftiktok #marketing

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I love that the old internet of tired parents (often in advertising) with accidentally hilarious toddlers is still alive and well, just operating in a different format. And just like the “Picky Eaters Club” really came to life with all the reader submissions…

…the best part of the Tiktok was all the examples of “meal time rebranding” in the comment section.

Here are some of my favorites:

“My son would never eat salmon but…he would eat *pink chicken!*”

“My daughter doesn’t drink water, but she does drink ‘clear juice’.”

“My toddler hated lasagna with all his heart, but once I rebranded it ‘pasta tower,’ it became his favorite meal.”

“My son hated bath time. But he absolutely loves ‘Club Tub.’”

“Broccoli’s PR team (me) rebranded to ‘little trees’ and we have record high consumption index now!”

“My daughter HATES grilled cheese but loves cheese pizza sandwiches.”

“I rebranded pesto as Christmas Tree Sauce.”

“My kids will only take meds if they can wash it down with ‘Barbie Water’. That’s the little bit of meds left in the cup, mixed with water to rinse.”

“Beans = fart pills. Worked like a charm.”

“Not only does rebranding work on my toddler, so does clickbait. Like, ‘You’ll never believe what special vegetable we are having tonight!’”

Do you have a favorite “rebrand” moment? Either something current or one you remember back from the good old days before your kids were obsessed with Roblox and skincare? Share your marketing wins in the comments!