Reese air drops snacks in Outrageous stunt

Who: Hershey Canada and Mosaic, with media by UM Canada.  

What: A drone-based stunt—captured for online video, of course—that saw Reese’s new Outrageous chocolate bars airlifted to some people who can’t work from home during the pandemic.

When & Where: The online video went live late last week and is being pushed through a buy focused on Facebook and Instagram.  

Why: One of the oft-mentioned virtues (or vices, depending on how you look at it) of working from home during the pandemic is the opportunity to hit the kitchen for a snack at any time. But according to Hershey, more than 60% of Canadians can’t work from home. Those people don’t have the same access to snacks, and that absence of snack-ability became the premise for this stunt.

“When we thought about the reality of today’s world where many of us are working from home, we realized one of the benefits is having unlimited access to snacks and treats,” said Azim Akhtar, Reese marketing manager. ”But that got us thinking about the people who haven’t been able to work from home.”

How: “The Outrageous Flying Snack Cupboard,” a 20-pound snack cupboard packed with Reese treats delivered via a large drone to three people—a lifeguard, a contractor and a real estate agent. The drone drops were captured on video for social sharing.

“[W]e wanted to create something authentic—an act instead of an ad—that would be relevant in the unique cultural context we’re living in right now,” said Dave Thornhill, creative director at Mosaic North America.

Quote: “At Reese, we’re all about bringing people to their happy place. And with the challenge of promoting a new chocolate bar in the middle of a pandemic, we knew we had to do more than just make another ad—we wanted to do something that was truly culturally relevant.”— Azim Akhtar, Reese marketing manager.

David Brown