POLO MINT SWEETS | SNOW STAMP | 2010
Snow fell, so they stamped it with POLO / POLO MINT "SNOW STAMP"
In 12/2009, the whole of the UK was blanketed in snow. Someone had an idea: "This blank white snow looks just like a POLO mint." So they made a giant stamp and pressed it into parks and benches everywhere.
The problem
POLO has been loved since 1948, known in Britain as "the mint with the hole." But as time went on, the brand needed to refresh its image. The mint market was crowded with competitors like chewing gum, and the challenge was how to make a heritage brand feel modern. Then, in 12/2009, the whole of the UK was covered in pure white snow.
The insight
Looking at the fresh white snow, the team at JWT London realized: "This is the perfect canvas for a fresh white mint." The idea was to use the snow itself as a blank canvas. POLO's defining features—its whiteness, its freshness, its hole—lined up perfectly with the freshly fallen snow. It was the perfect moment to connect a natural phenomenon with the very essence of the brand.
The idea
They made a giant stamp shaped like a POLO mint, and when pressed into thick fresh snow, it left behind a perfect replica of the iconic white mint. From Hyde Park in London to the countryside of Kent, giant letters spelling "POLO" appeared stamped into the snow. Passersby couldn't believe their eyes, took photos, and shared them on social media and blogs. People started talking about POLO everywhere, with passersby photographing the giant POLO shapes pressed into the snow and spreading them online. One passerby said, "I couldn't believe my eyes."
What happened
The campaign won a Gold Lion at Cannes Lions. It generated enormous earned media, and 2009 became remembered across the UK as "the year of the POLO snow stamp." The cost of making the stamp was very low, yet it earned exposure worth millions of dollars, and it's a campaign still talked about 13 years later. It was praised as a low-cost, highly effective PR stunt.
Afterthought
It was a moment that turned the chance of weather into the inevitability of a brand. Snow melts, but memories don't. I think that's the strength of this campaign. It's still cited today as a textbook example of ambient advertising, because the purity of the idea—becoming one with nature—was so strong. I'd love to do work like this myself someday: turning the chance right in front of me into something inevitable.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2010
