The kooky snack with an insane cult following, Funyuns never had to advertise — the beloved onion-y goodness just sold itself. But one day, those crazy marketers wanted to see what would happen if they dipped their toes into the world of digital and experiential.
The challenge? How to make a cherished counter culture snack not feel like “the man” had tampered with its antiestablishment rep and gone corporate, which would surely alienate slackers and onion enthusiasts the world over.
With great power comes great Funyuns breath (and responsibility), so we took it to where their fans were: online with an irreverent, slightly surreal Tumblr site, a pretty awesome Twitter feed, a Reddit post, and the coup d’etat: an activation at Voodoo Fest, where late night snacking goes hand-to-mouth with a huge lineup of metal and hard rocking artists like Florence and the Machine and Ozzy.
The result was a highly successful (and trippy) experience that saw wishes being granted at our Wish Upon the Rings tent, thousands of free bags of Funyuns being consumed, and our Twitter followers doubling in size, plus awesome mentions all over the web and live at the Fest. Now that’s one stinky way to advertise, and Funyuns fans wouldn’t have it any other way.
Copywriter: Nick Scott
Sr. AD: Chris Hoover
