1. How do you take an 80-year-old candy bar and make it legitimately and immediately relevant
to candy-loving guys? The answer was a once-in-a-lifetime, brand- and business-building
April Fools’ Day prank where Butterfinger was renamed as “The Finger.” Wherever our
consumers were on April 1st, they heard about our “announcement” through an intensive media
relations campaign, a heavy online effort and a nationwide giveaway of 200,000 Finger bars.
The one-day results included 52.8 million media impressions, national buzz and newfound
relevance for Butterfinger with its consumers.
2. To promote a limited-edition Butterfinger Buzz candy bar, we invited consumers to
“Get Their Butterfinger Buzz On!” at one of three special events that took place in New York,
Los Angeles and Chicago. Participants received a head-turning, Butterfinger “Buzz Cut,” an
actual buzz haircut with the orange Butterfinger Buzz logo sprayed onto the back of their head,
showing their love for the brand. Media results included two national broadcast mentions,
including “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “The Today Show,” and four times the amount
of impressions than projected.
3. Bringing fresh faces to “Nobody’s Gonna Lay A Finger…!”, FUNterns were unconventional
interns who served as brand advocates online and offline. This cubicle-busting internship
called for tech-savvy guys and girls on the go and in the social media know – who would
“peer-promote” Butterfinger by doing what they do best – tweet, blog, vlog, post and play.
The FUNternship proved to be the ultimate Butterfinger promo, resulting in unprecedented
growth and sales by 10 percent and a social media index that has more than tripled.
4. Working with celebrity Seth Green, we created a campaign around the new ‘Butterfinger
Mouthpiece,’ setting the stage for Seth to appear in an elaborate online stunt that would kick off
Butterfinger’s first alternate reality game. Through the highly popular hi-jinks, including a staged
Butterfinger theft and celebrity rant, media were drawn to Butterfinger, with Seth appearing on
major national shows and other outlets. As the program wrapped, we brought to life one final
piece of the game – a ‘five-finger discount’ giveaway for a vintage Butterfinger bar, the object of
Seth’s desire.