Philadelphia Cream Cheese is melding culinary classics in a trial-driving earned-media play to mark the expansion of its flavour portfolio.

The Kraft Heinz company’s “Bonut” serves up bagels as donuts in a twist that skips the traditional horizontal cut and places new blueberry and pineapple sweet cream-cheese options on top of the circular-savoury favourite.

Philadelphia partnered with College Street Bagels in Toronto and Fairmont Bagel in Montreal with free giveaways to launch the campaign, made with creative from Rethink, for National Donut Day on Wednesday. The limited-time offer (LTO) activation includes an Uber Eats component for those interested in trying at home.

Brian Neumann, head of brand and creativity at Kraft Heinz Canada, tells strategy that the rollout presented an opportunity to spotlight flavour innovation in a memorable, visually driven way.

“The Bonut was created to be a thumb-stopping visual to get people to stop and think about flavour and breakfast,” Neumann says. “Instead of leaning into a traditional bagel moment, we wanted to do something more unexpected – just like the Bonut – and that is how National Donut Day came into the picture.”

The blueberry and pineapple options, which include chunks of real fruit, represent Philadelphia’s first permanent flavour additions in five years, though the company did experiment with a ghost-pepper spiciness infusion in 2023’s “Heaven and Hell” LTO. That product came was available exclusively through Uber Eats in Toronto and included a customer-safety waiver gimmick.

Neumann says the company sees the potential for sweet products to drive growth with flavour the number-one purchase driver in a category dominated by savoury choices.

“Flavour is a big bet for the brand as we look to bring fans new ways to experience our cream cheese, especially in a category where flavour is lacking,” he says. “We can’t wait to see consumers’ response to the inclusions and will use the learnings from this launch as we look to future flavour innovations.”

Neumann says the Bonut rollout is primarily aimed at driving trial, though earned-media impressions and social engagement will also be used to gauge the campaign’s success. Heads+Tails handled PR, Carat developed the media strategy and The Kitchen worked on organic and influencer content.

The campaign will have a presence across social and online platforms, including Meta, Youtube, Spotify and Reddit, and also includes influencer-video content and seeding, creative mailers and OOH.