Hershey Canada has embraced the growing faux out-of-home (FOOH) phenomenon in a campaign for National Caramel Day.
To promote its new Reese’s Big Cup with Caramel, the chocolate brand is using digital trickery to insert oversized versions of caramel-infused peanut butter cups into familiar sights in Toronto and Montreal.
The Toronto ad shows a Reese’s Big Cup with Caramel dangling from one of the city’s ubiquitous construction cranes and dripping caramel onto a car below, while the second shows Montreal’s famed Olympic Stadium transformed into one of the Cups.
The ads are appearing on the chocolate brand’s TikTok, Instagram and Facebook channels. Craft PR led social and influencer outreach for this one, with UM for media and Jimmy for content creation.
FOOH has become something of a marketing phenomenon in recent months, with brands like Maybelline, handbag company Jacquemus and outwear brand North Face all experimenting with the format.
While the ads invariably lead to social media buzz and lots of media coverage, they have also sparked a growing debate about the ethics of presenting these CGI-generated ads as the real thing.
Our sister title Campaign UK, called them a “fantastic outlet for imagination,” but also cautioned that there is a “moral aspect” to consider.
"The established rules of advertising pivot on truthfulness," wrote McCann London's Mel Arrow. "And it's important for our industry to stay on the right side of consumer trust."
Brands though, seem to relish the opportunity to create compelling executions that look like outdoor creative when shared on social, but aren’t achievable using conventional out-of-home or might even not get approved by local governments.
"We’re always looking for innovative ways to push the envelope, stop thumbs and break through the clutter, especially for bold innovation launches like Reese’s Big Cup with Caramel,” said Hershey Canada marketing director Paloma Bentes. “What better way to spark conversation than by creating a spectacle of caramel on National Caramel Day?”
