Bloom, an upscale division of Food Lion, is guessing that all its shoppers have a few issues. Mediapost.com reports the chain's new TV ads take a decidedly lighthearted approach to easing their angst. As shoppers confess all kinds of comical, compromising or just pathetic problems, relentlessly cheerful Bloom clerks respond with upbeat non sequiturs.

"Turns out, there are security cameras in the supply closet," deadpans a young woman. A clerk responds: "But Bloom's bakery's got handmade artisan bread!" "What happened in Vegas didn't stay in Vegas," says one glum, middle-aged woman, only to be told, "Well, Bloom sells only Angus beef at non-Angus prices."

The TV campaign is based on 12 vignettes, which will be bundled in threes early in the campaign, and will later run as :15s on network and cable in Bloom's mid-Atlantic markets. Bloom is a division of Food Lion, Salisbury, N.C., which is a part division of Delhaize Group, Brussels.

Another part of the promotion includes local guerilla marketing tactics with six million stickers that employees can post anywhere -- on products, on bags and, even occasionally, on shoppers. Dubbed Bloomisms, the stickers are just silly:
Make mischief. Or, if you're a man, make misterchief. Life is beautiful, and not just in a "great personality" kind of way. Live in the now. No wait, now. Okay, now. Who says grocery shopping can't be fun?