Dive Brief:

• RXBar is building on its brand platform focused on combating B.S. with a Google Chrome browser extension that removes corporate jargon from social media, per details shared with Marketing Dive. 
• The Kellanova brand’s The B.S. Feed Filter scans the user’s network for common buzzwords (for example: “disruptor”) and blocks out the fluff. RXBar is asking fans to share their least-favorite phrases online to be added to the blocker codebase, which will be updated over time.   
• The extension is part of RXBar’s “Proud Sponsor of No B.S.” platform, which previously tackled unrealistic New Year’s resolutions. The messaging strategy aligns with the brand’s focus on authenticity and transparency, embodied in the simple list of ingredients displayed on its packaging.   

Dive Insight:

RXBar is needling people who overuse corporate lingo on LinkedIn and other social networking platforms with its new Chrome feature. The branded browser extension is designed to eliminate tiresome words and phrases that were once relegated to internal email chains and TED Talk stages but have leaked out into the larger online sphere amid a rise in hustle-culture influencers. 

A promotional video shows office workers standing solitary on a hilltop as a deluge of cringe-worthy posts float around them. “I just finalized my divorce … Here’s what it taught me about B2B marketing,” reads one. It goes on to highlight phrases like “catalyze transformation,” “disruptor” and “move the needle” that are emblematic of wannabe thought leader fluff, or what RXBar deems B.S.

Posts that fall afoul of the Chrome extension’s sniff test are slapped with a colorful overlay that reads, “This post contains B.S., so we filtered it from your feed.” The messages carry the RXBar branding and “No B.S.” tagline. 

RXBar has long leaned into pushing against trends its views as phony, and has recently ramped up its “no B.S.” marketing initiatives. Around the New Year, it asked consumers in New York to identify ads promoting toxic resolutions and sent out a B.S. Blocker Truck painted like one of its snack bars to obstruct them. Tombras is the Kellnova brand’s creative agency. 

Other marketers have embraced novelty browser extensions and plug-ins as a way to connect with consumers seeking a light-hearted distraction. Cheetos earlier this year released a tool that swapped out regular web fonts for deliberately sloppy ones meant to mimic writing done with a non-dominant hand (because the dominant one is busy snacking on Cheetos and covered in orange cheese powder). The Other Hand Font dropped in time for National Handwriting Day in January. 

For RXBar, innovative marketing could be an important differentiator as the protein and better-for-you snack bar category gets more crowded. Among the brand’s upstart rivals is David Protein, which was launched by RXBar co-founder Peter Rahal and Zach Ranen in 2023.