Strategy April 26, 2024
ASI Chairman Norman Cohn Becomes TikTok Influencer
An unboxing video his granddaughter posted on the social media site went viral this week.
The latest influencer on youth-centered social media app TikTok? It’s none other than Norman Cohn, the 91-year-old chairman of ASI and longtime aficionado of V8 juices.
Cohn’s granddaughter Madison reached out to the Campbell Soup Company, makers of V8, asking for their help to comfort Cohn after his brother – his last living sibling – passed away. And V8 delivered. The company sent Cohn a care package of his favorite flavors, along with a card sending well wishes. Madison posted a video earlier this week of Cohn’s unboxing and reaction on TikTok, where it quickly took on a life of its own.
As of Friday, April 26, the initial unboxing video had 5.4 million views, 734,000 likes and over 4,100 comments. The vast majority of the comments were positive. “I want more senior PR unboxing videos. They deserve the freebies and swag more than anyone,” a user named extrinsicgiraffe posted. Another wrote: “Now THIS is an influencer I’d trust.” Yet another described it as “the most wholesome PR unboxing.” Other commenters said they wanted to see Cohn do monthly tasting videos where he rated various flavors of the juice.
V8 Juice’s official TikTok account also commented on Madison’s video, thanking Madison for reaching out and adding that they were Norman’s No. 1 fans. And a day after Madison’s video posted, V8 Juice posted a follow-up video on its own account, to hand-deliver another package of V8 drinks, along with a tea towel, two glasses and a card. The company also invited Cohn to an exclusive visit to the V8 headquarters for a day of “V8-filled surprises and tastings” and “to see where the real magic happens.”
In the video, Cohn said he was “dumbfounded” by all the attention. “If you would have said to me yesterday morning that there was going to be something about my drinking V8 – which I do every morning, [that’s] the truth – that that could be something apparently almost 3 million people would view – it’s been extraordinary,” he continued. “I never dreamt that many people would even know who I was.”
In another reaction video posted by Madison after the delivery, Cohn added: “I’m now 91 and a quarter, so maybe V8 is what has helped me get to this point, and we’ll see what happens.”