If there is one life experience that can be related to almost universally, it would be that of having your heartbroken. To some it comes early, to others much later, to a lucky few, it never happens; but far more often than not we all have our hearts ripped out, stomped on and thrown in the garbage disposal. I still remember the first time I met the unfortunate end of lady love’s blade. Third grade, the playground of Garfield Elementary. Needless to say, it wasn’t pretty — but I’ll spare you the gritty details (you wish – I got depantsed by my crush on the jungle gym.) With it’s recent rebranding campaign, A.1. Sauce tapped into this emotion to unveil that it was dropping ‘Steak’ from its name after a 50-year partnership. The two-minute spot follows the relationship between A.1. and steak, from the highest of highs associated with being head-over-heels in love, to the skepticism that comes when others start to enter the picture, to the lowest of lows when you have to accept the person you’ve seemingly loved forever isn’t going to be the person you love forever (I think A.1. owes me royalties for hijacking the plot of my college romance.) What really makes the spot work is not just playing on this easily-relatable emotion, but doing so in the exact fashion that so many relationships have met their demise in this modern age – publicly over social media. Was it necessary for A.1. to make this breakup public? I’m not wholly convinced. Even when ‘Steak’ was in the brand’s name, I still used the sauce with reckless abandon on a wide array of meats – but then again, I’ve always been a rule breaker (you should see how many leather jackets I own in my imagination.) Regardless, the spot is flawlessly executed and a fresh reminder that creativity is alive and well within the industry. Let’s end this blog by taking a moment of silence for love lost. Scratch that – cue the music.