PASCALL | WHEN WILL THE FRUIT BURST | 2009
When Will It Burst? / PASCALL "WHEN WILL THE FRUIT BURST"
A giant strawberry-shaped balloon slowly, slowly inflates in the middle of the city. Right beside it, a needle stands ready and waiting. Nobody knows when it will burst. The only thing that's certain is that when it does, thousands of fruit candies will rain down on the street.
The problem
PASCALL Fruit Bursts are candies known for their intense fruit flavor. It's a beloved confectionery brand in New Zealand, but with plenty of competitors on the shelf, the brand needed a memorable "moment" to get chosen in store. So DDB New Zealand created a promotion that would let people literally experience the product's name.
The insight
DDB translated the product experience of "bursting" in your mouth directly into a giant visual. By staging the candy's "bursting sweetness" right on a street corner, they created a direct link between the brand name and the experience itself. And by letting the balloon inflate over the course of about a month, they built in a reason for people to check the live stream every single day. That unpredictability and real-time suspense created the simple pleasure of watching and waiting, even in an era before social media had taken over.
The idea
A giant deflated strawberry-shaped balloon was set up on a billboard in the middle of Auckland, with an enormous needle placed right beside it. Over the course of about a month, the balloon gradually inflated, creeping closer and closer to the needle. On a dedicated website, whenwillthefruitburst.co.nz, people could watch a live stream of the balloon's progress, and a contest let visitors guess exactly when it would burst for a chance to win $5,000. The moment the balloon finally burst, thousands of Fruit Bursts candies rained down onto the street, turning into a giant free candy giveaway for everyone passing by.
What happened
A single billboard, amplified by media coverage, reached millions of people around the world. Website traffic beat the client's expectations by 300%, racking up 81,000 page views and more than 11,000 unique visitors. Thousands of people entered the contest, making it one of the most successful promotions in PASCALL's history. Brand awareness reached 93%, and purchase intent tripled during the campaign period. At Cannes Lions 2009, it won two Gold Lions in the Promo category and one Bronze Lion in the Direct category.
Afterthought
Turning an unpredictable "when" into an experience the whole city could share together is honestly amazing. Combining a live stream, a real-world experience, and a participatory contest back in 2009, before social media was what it is today, was pretty forward-thinking. And more than anything, the idea of taking the word "Burst" and committing to it so literally, while still making it genuinely entertaining, is just wonderful. If I saw a giant strawberry slowly inflating on the street, I'd probably go check on it every single day too.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2009
