Pringles: DIPbate Newsjacking Extraordinaire

We asked voters and Mayoral Candidates one burning question: "When it comes to tortilla chips, do you DIP ’em or NOT?"

With the help of a mariachi band and 35 paid protestors, we inserted The Great #PringlesDIPbate into rallies, marches, and candidate news conferences. The #PringlesDIPbate created news and our series of online videos captured the imagination of Canadians from coast-to-coast, contributing to Pringles brand equity and above-forecast sales results for the Pringles Tortilla Chips launch.

Make a Boldly Delicious Move into the Chip Market

• Pringles needed to differentiate itself and infiltrate a $10 billion global category
• Our campaign had to be memorable to capture the attention of our target audience of Social Amplifiers and Connectors, who are always looking to break out of the mundane

Newsjack the Toronto Mayoral Election with a Contentious DIPbate

We knew the Mayoral election was all-consuming with media and voters. We determined that real-time marketing and newsjacking of the election could raise awareness of Pringles Tortilla Chips and highlight Pringles' playful personality. We needed to be disruptive to command attention and generate earned coverage and digital traction.

• We created The Great #PringlesDIPbate platform. We made "To Dip or Not to Dip" an election issue
• Our 360⁰ creative campaign was a 24/7 collaboration, designed to connect with Canadians in the real world (IRW) and online. We identified video as most engaging on social media
• We chose Matt Philips, a comedian and emerging Canadian web personality, as our #PringlesDIPbate celebrity interviewer
• Our #PringlesDIPbate team – complete with picket signs, T-shirts and rallying cries – made even more media noise as it traveled with a mariachi band and Pringles beloved mascot, Mr. P.

Roaring Through the Toronto Streets

For two weeks, our wacky rally team, along with a videographer, roared through the streets of Toronto adding unpredictable fun to the election campaign.

• We connected with leading candidates – John Tory and Olivia Chow – as well as fringe politicians including Chandler Mallard (a duck) and Sketchy the Clown
• Well-loved local celebrity Mike Pinball Clemons, a former CFL player with Toronto Argonauts, even weighed in on the issue
• We created nine hilarious YouTube videos. Candidates willingly participated and even propelled the content on their own channels
• A national earned media and blogger relations campaign supported the #PringlesDIPbate
• We rallied Influencers across Canada to host and post fun #PringlesDIPbate fiestas