Keeping Fortnite Fresh
Wendy's2018
Keeping Fortnite Fresh is a 2018 live Twitch stream and in-game activation for Wendy's, created by VMLY&R, Kansas City.
The line
Fresh, never frozen.
Why it works
During Thanksgiving week 2018, Fortnite ran a 'Food Fight' event that split players into Team Burger and Team Pizza. Wendy's agency noticed that the game's burger restaurant kept its beef in freezers, an affront to a chain built on fresh, never frozen beef. So on 26 November Wendy's went live on Twitch as a character that looked just like its red-pigtailed mascot and, instead of fighting other players, spent the stream destroying every freezer it could find; by the team's own account, they played the game wrong for nine hours. Fans and streamers joined in unprompted. D&AD's case study reports 5,000 concurrent viewers by 5pm and more than 1.5 million minutes watched, with no paid influencers, and says the idea went from pitch to approval in three days. It is studied as the moment a brand entered gaming culture as a player rather than an advertiser, turning a product claim into gameplay. It won the first-ever Social & Influencer Grand Prix at Cannes in 2019.
Techniques
- Real-time and newsjacking Joining a live in-game food fight event, the brand streams itself smashing every freezer in sight, turning its fresh-beef promise into gameplay.
- Mascots and characters Playing as a character modelled on its red-pigtailed mascot, the brand enters the game as a player rather than an advertiser.
Sources · 3
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