For its 2013 Halloween initiative, Crest and Oral-B took a daring approach. Rather than lecture people about the dangers of indulging in eating candy, they gave consumers permission to enjoy their favorite treats, because Crest and Oral-B have you covered. To bring this bold strategy to life, they created a campaign whose central idea was taking candy away and replacing it with healthy treats. Groups of unsuspecting kids were led to believe that they would be the first to try these healthier treats. The kids couldn’t wait to sink their teeth into these delicacies, and eagerly filed into the tasting room, where an adult moderator whetted their appetite further—but there was a catch. These new replacements for traditional candies were made from bland things like seaweed, tofu, and artichokes. In short, they tasted horrible. Not surprisingly, the kids reacted in visceral ways that were totally hilarious. The film concluded with the line, “Nothing is more horrifying than Halloween without candy,” with an end card reading, “Thankfully, there’s Crest and Oral-B.” Within days, the video went viral, totaling over 7 million views, and was received media coverage from numerous networks and publications, and other media outlets.

An improv comedian acting as a moderator ran a fake focus group where kids, in full Halloween costumes, were asked to try healthy Halloween treats which would be replacing candy. Instead of candy corn and chocolate, they were given tofu ghost mallows, veggie gummies and Nori pops. Not surprisingly, the kids reacted viscerally to the candy replacements and their hilarious, unrehearsed reactions were proof that there is nothing more horrifying than Halloween without candy. Thankfully, there's Crest and Oral-B, so kids can eat as much candy as they want on Halloween and still take good care of their teeth.

A downloadable coupon—which 1 in 5 people redeemed—provided real world sales. The video achieved 7.3 million YouTube views and had a Facebook click-through-rate that was 11 times higher than our benchmark, as well as an unprecedented 1.7 million coupon prints, a 20% base lift from base run for Procter & Gamble on Coupons.com. Branded mentions increased 23% above average during the campaign and continued to increase 13% afterwards. The return on the investment was impressive, with a paid to earn ration of 1 to 9. These figures helped solidify customer relationships for both Crest and Oral-B.