Of all the possible products an ad agency could work on, candy is one that really gets creative teams drooling. And why not? It’s a fun product aimed at a young demographic and, consequently, the possibilities are endless and get weird. And weirder.
But a new integrated ad campaign from Toronto-based Grip Limited has made select Maynard’s candies downright criminal.
The national effort puts Maynard’s products like Swedish Berries, Fuzzy Peach and Gummi Bears on wanted posters for crimes like “disturbing the peach,” and “jaw-walking.”
The posters feature QR codes that consumers can use to access a “Most Wanted” mobile site and report the candy’s “capture” to the brand’s Facebook application for a chance to win $25,000.
“The initial challenge was that the Maynard’s brand is not nearly as well known as its sub-brands,” said Grip creative director and partner Randy Stein. “Someone who loves Swedish Berries probably calls them Swedish Berries and is less likely to call them ‘Maynard’s Swedish Berries.’ So we set out to create a campaign that really focuses on what people know and love, but at the same time helps people understand these are Maynard’s candies. When you walk down the street and see the Swedish Berries transit shelter and then later see a Fuzzy Peach transit shelter, you get that these are tied together and anchored by Maynard’s.”
Stein said the mug shot idea came out of a desire to create characters out of each candy, which ad nerds may recall has worked in the past for the likes of Natural Confectionery Company. And while it was always the intention to extend the idea across mobile and Facebook, the contest idea emerged as a way to give users an added incentive to interact with the campaign.
“Maynard’s in past years has traditionally been on TV, which is still obviously a great way to get a message across, but knowing our target was late teens and early 20s, we really wanted to have something they could interact with on their mobile and on Facebook,” said Stein. “The brief was never the contest, but as it all came to life with the whole notion of ‘Most Wanted,’ we thought it was a perfect place for a contest that would encourage people to engage with the posters.”
