Hershey is using gooey digital street art to capture the indulgence and playfulness of its Reese’s Big Cup with Caramel.
The campaign, timed to coincide with National Caramel Day on Friday, includes two hero videos that showcase digital street art. The emerging art trend integrates CGI technology, including animation and visual effects, into live-action backgrounds.
The first video, from Toronto, shows a car covered in caramel before panning to reveal a larger-than-life Reese’s Big Cup with Caramel hanging from one of the city’s many cranes. The second, from Montreal, shows the city’s Stade Olympique transformed with a faucet of caramel filling the stands.
Reese’s Big Cup with Caramel has been in market since last November. Heather McCahill, Hershey Canada’s marketing manager for Reese and Oh Henry, says the confectionery was looking for an unexpected way to show up on National Caramel Day, the first time it’s celebrated the occasion.
Using digital street art and nascent technology is in line with Reese’s personality of being “playful and bold,” McCahill says, adding that it’s engaging and immersive in a way that feels native to digitally-led platforms.
The media tactics include TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, and paid advertorial.
McCahill says Hershey has felt momentum since Reese’s Big Cup with Caramel hit store shelves last fall, supported by a large retail program. It’s a sentiment echoed by company CEO Michele Buck in its February earnings call, who noted that Hershey is “encouraged by the improvement in our everyday chocolate share following the launch of Reese’s Caramel.”
As McCahill explains, with Reese’s being the number one chocolate brand in Canada, there is support throughout the whole year for different campaigns, versus solely for key confectionery occasions.
Toronto and Montreal are two big markets the CPG wanted to connect with, appealing to anyone who likes indulgent chocolate and is open to product innovations in the category.
Craft PR, which Hershey Canada selected as its earned media and influencer agency of record last summer, is supporting the campaign.
Jimmy is the agency that created the videos, UM Canada did the buy.
