Arby’s is channeling the paranormal in a campaign to promote its new Hot Turkey or Roast Beef Three Cheese & Bacon sandwich.
For its “Believe the Unbelievable” campaign, four documentary-style videos show real people telling their personal tales of UFO sightings, ghosts, spirit-channeling and other supernatural activities. At the end, the interviewer asks if they would believe Arby’s now has a three-cheese and bacon sandwich with hot turkey or roast beef, and the subjects express their disbelief.
The idea is to show “absolutely 100% real people who have these unbelievable stories and the only thing they’re not going to be believe is Arby’s new sandwich,” said Andrew Simon, chief creative officer at Blammo, Arby’s agency of record.
The agency team, along with production company Suneeva, researched Canadians who have experienced otherworldly activity. They conducted phone interviews with a large group of people, then handpicked five individuals (including one couple) to tell their stories on camera. The subjects were informed of the Arby’s campaign and knew they would be asked about the sandwich, said Simon.
“We didn’t want to make fun of these people,” added Simon. “It wasn’t about ‘these people are kooks’ or anything, it’s just that these are cool stories and we’re observers to that, and then we asked them about our product news.”
Four videos are on YouTube and are being promoted on Arby’s Facebook page as well as through banner ads.
Editing was done by Panic & Bob, while RMW Music handled sound design and music.
