The Brief: ‘Smackable’ Billboards and Subterranean Cooking

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW THIS WEEK

This week’s hot takes on hot topics in experiential marketing cover “smackable” billboards, subterranean pizza parties and the Malmö Oat Milkers.

HEINZ IS INVITING KETCHUP LOVERS TO LAY THE SMACKDOWN

We’ve all smacked the bottom of a Heinz ketchup bottle to ensure we get every last drop. So the brand is running with the idea and installing “smackable” billboards in two cities. When consumers whack a Heinz ketchup bottle located at the center of the billboard, ketchup packets are dispensed, vending machine-style.

Here’s the kicker: The installations are planted right outside of restaurants that notoriously ban ketchup from their establishments, like Louis’ Lunch in New Haven, CT, and just about any restaurant in Chicago, which is famously anti-ketchup.

Heinz isn’t stopping there. The brand is asking followers on its social channels to share the locations of other restaurants that don’t serve Heinz. Plus, consumers who visit the campaign microsite on their mobile device can smack their space bar to unlock $1 off. Saucy.

THIS IS LOW, EVEN FOR AN OUTDOOR BRAND

There’s deep dish pizza, and then there’s subterranean deep dish pizza. To celebrate National Deep Dish Pizza Day on April 5, Solo Stove plunged 10 stories into the Earth’s, ahem, crust, where it livestreamed a cooking class in what was “likely the deepest location that any deep dish pizza has ever been made or consumed.” Hosted at Alabama’s historic Majestic Caverns, which boasts a cathedral room big enough to fit a football field, the brand’s “Deepest Dish” event was led by pro chef and certified pizzaiolo Matt Frampton of Urban Slicer Pizza Worx.

During the livestream, Frampton demonstrated the secrets of cooking up the perfect deep dish pizza using Solo Stove’s Pi Prime Pizza Oven, which features technology that can churn out a pie in as little as 90 seconds. Throughout the event, those who tuned in could also ask Frampton questions and score exclusive giveaways, discounts and prizes. Beat that, Chicago pizzerias.

OATLY IS REALLY MILKING ITS BASEBALL SPONSORSHIP

How’s this for sponsorship ingenuity: Oat milk brand Oatly is leveraging its multiyear Minor League Baseball (MiLB) partnership this season to create the league’s “121^st team,” the Malmö Oat Milkers (a nod to its home city of Malmö, Sweden). As part of the campaign, each of the MiLB’s 120 existing teams will play one game as the Oat Milkers this year, and flaunt black and white branded jerseys with pink accents, to boot. Cheeky messaging and a chance to win season tickets to 120 games, and possibly claim the title of “No. 1 Oat Milkers Fan,” are also part of the deal.

Spectators can anticipate unconventional experiences at Oat Milkers games, like a first-pitch ritual that includes oat milk carton-throwing. There’s also trivia, a chance to “sign a contract” to be an Oat Milker for a day and other brand touchpoints throughout the MiLB stadiums, where Oatly’s non-dairy frozen dessert is available at concession stands.

CARE FOR A BAGEL AND A SMEAR OF SUNSCREEN?

For a lot of consumers, putting on sunscreen is viewed as a chore. So for the launch of its newest line of Daily sunscreens, Sun Bum took over part of New Yorkers’ daily schedule to demonstrate how easy it is to add Sun Bum Daily into their skincare routines. Enter: The Good Days Daily Bodega, a one-day activation held on April 3 that touted the sunscreen brand’s Daily 50 SPF product. The idea? To prove that applying the brand’s sunscreen can be as easy as stopping at your local bodega for coffee and a bagel.

The pop-up hosted at the corner of NYC’s Bleecker and Morton Streets was drenched in Sun Bum branding and nods to its gorilla mascot, Sonny. In between bunches of bananas and sunflower bouquets, visitors could check out Sun Bum product displays, and get personalized one-on-one consultations with the brand’s executive marketing director. Sun Bum’s new “Disruption Associate” was also on hand to share curated guides to NYC locales to inspire attendees to switch up their schedules. More than 750 people ultimately brought their bums to the event.

Photo credit: Garrett Bruce

A BRANDED SUGAR RUSH IS COMING TO CHICAGO

If you’re a Willy Wonka fan, you may need to sit down for this one. Hershey is in the midst of building a permanent, sugar-coated entertainment venue in Chicago that is slated to open around late summer. The company hasn’t disclosed many details yet, including the name of the ticketed attraction, but visitors can expect to encounter a multisensory, “magical” world of candy-making that is centered on entertainment and amusement while paying homage to iconic Hershey brands, like Twizzlers, Jolly Ranchers and Hershey’s Kisses. Color us intrigued. (Agency: Original X Productions)

More from The Brief:

• The Brief: Gravy Races and Gold Bunny Getaways
• The Brief: Cash Showers and ‘F*d Up’ Sponsorships

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