Snack food brands regularly launch limited-edition flavors to gain market share and share of voice. Pringles does this, too. But since Pringles historically has much smaller budgets than its market leading competitors, standing out in the sea of limited-edition flavors is challenging. The reality is that Pringles doesn’t have the luxury of TV media to reach people when launching these flavors. So, Pringles needed a limited-edition flavor and a marketing campaign that could break through in an unexpected way, without breaking the bank. To do this, we partnered with a brand known for boundary-pushing marketing: Wendy’s. Together, Wendy’s and Pringles strategized to not only launch a crisp based on the fast-food chain’s most famous item. But to also create a completely new and unexpected way to experience this food, based on a unique American food insight.

Americans love dipping savory Wendy’s food in Wendy’s’ Frosties. For decades, millions have dipped French Fries. Many even dip their Wendy’s Nuggets. But Wendy’s’ most famous item, the Baconator Burger, is too big and clumsy to dip. So, Wendy’s and Pringles teamed up to solve this injustice. And created: The Dippable Baconator. We crammed each flavor of the Wendy’s Baconator Burger into the perfectly dippable shape of a Pringles crisp. In other words, you can dip your burger into your shake now. And since we gave people a new eating way to engage with and eat the Wendy's Baconator, we then created a new way to get it delivered directly to them: People could tweet #DippableBaconator + the Ice Cream emoji to get Baconator Pringles and a Frosty, delivered right to their door.

Wendy’s and Pringles are American icons that aim for mass appeal. So, our target was general market America. One thing we know is that general market Americans love unusual food combinations. Like fried chicken on syrupy waffles. Another of these popular food combos is dipping French fries in Wendy's Frosties. Millions do it. Many even dip Wendy's nuggets. But we noticed that unlike fries or nuggets, nobody dips Wendy’s’ most famous item, the Baconator Burger. Because it is too big and clumsy to dip. So, we launched: The Dippable Baconator. All the flavor of a Wendy's Baconator, now in the perfectly, ergonomically dippable shape of a Pringles crisp. We created the product, then we called on American to get dipping. We even created a direct delivery system so everyone could try it. People tweeted #DippableBaconator plus an ice cream emoji to get Baconator Pringles and Frosty delivered to their doors.

It started with Pringles and Wendy’s’ working together to craft each flavor of the Baconator Burger into a Pringles crisp. This collaboration culminated in the product first reaching shelves around mid-June 2020. A few weeks later, once nationwide distribution had been achieved, we announced this new product as The Dippable Baconator and called on America to get dipping. First with video ads communicating that the Baconator Burger is finally dippable. Next, to encourage this new eating experience, we had Instagram and TikTok influencers post videos of themselves dipping on their social channels. America caught on quickly, with people immediately making and posting their own dipping videos. Once the idea had been successfully seeded, we then launched the Dippable Baconator delivery system. People in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Columbus could tweet #DippableBaconator plus an ice cream emoji, to get Baconator Pringles and a Frosty delivered direct to their door.

The campaign was picked up by multiple major TV networks, as well as news and magazine outlets – gaining 507 million earned media impressions. #DippableBaconator became a trending topic worldwide. People’s homemade dipping videos got over 5 million views on social. During the peak of the campaign, #DippableBaconator was used over 25,000 times in two hours. And more than 1.1 million cans sold out in less than 3 months.