Greg Bassett: Perdue commercials pretty humorous

Jim Perdue's latest commercials are laugh-out-loud funny.

I love Perdue Farms' new organic chicken commercials.

Is it because I love the product? Frankly, don’t care all that much about what’s organic or what chemicals go in food. I know I should, but I don’t.

I’m guilty of being a typical lazy American consumer who will eat anything that tastes good.

Is it my loyalty to the Perdue brand? True, seeing that blue and yellow label with the words “Salisbury, Md. 21801” makes me have to buy, even when competitors’ products are sitting right there and priced lower.

What I love about the latest commercials is that – at long last – Jim Perdue is showing some of his true personality.

Since he took the commercial-making mantle from his dad nearly two decades ago now, the TV ads featuring Jim have been cute and coy and subtle and subdued. Some have also been pretty funny, like the famous “pajamas commercial.” But it has always seemed like the commercials went to great lengths to show that he's a sincere guy and not some corporate monster.

The initial ad in a new series of commercials has Perdue in a serious mode, telling consumers of his company's antibiotics-free pledge and challenging competitors to match his quality.

The follow-up ads, with Jim Perdue serving various folks gathered around a dinner table are laugh-out-loud funny. In these spots, while the Alan Parsons Project’s “Sirius” plays in the background, Perdue offers a somewhat exaggerated but hysterical grin that closes the piece. I can’t watch it without smiling myself.

We all know about Frank Perdue’s career as a pitchman. Those groundbreaking commercials were funny, informative and utterly charming.

Now the son has at long last brought a new level of humor and personality to the company’s latest messages about healthy eating and good food. Following tradition, a serious message is being delivered in a humorous way, but now at new and memorable heights.

“Winner winner Perdue dinner” indeed.