One bite from a chocolate chip cookie can evoke childhood memories. So, we thought, how could we combine the nostalgia of chocolate chip cookies with OREO’s brand purpose to bring wonder into our lives?

The answer was to create an immersive activation that gave Millennials and cookie-lovers a second chance to experience the world from the perspective of a child by eliciting a nostalgic, “Wonderfilled” feeling of home.

The Choco Chip OREO Wonder Vault was a 1-day pop-up event built within a vacant retail storefront in Los Angeles. We transformed the space by drenching the exterior in OREO’s sky blue brand color and mounting the door with a giant OREO cookie to hint at the “Wonderfilled” world within.

The home kitchen was crafted to make adults feel small—like kids again. A towering refrigerator covered with colorful alphabet magnets held childlike scribbles. Giant dog bowls, a massive kitchen table, and the oversized Wonderfilled Times newspaper reinforced the larger scale. And finally, too-tall countertops encouraged adults to stand on “tippy toes” to reach a cookie jar filled with Choco Chip OREO samples.

Backlit tromp l’oeil lightboxes created the illusion of a neighborhood home with a backyard. A soundscape of children playing and dogs barking filled the air. Every element anchored a sense of time and place.

The Choco Chip OREO Wonder Vault activation made a splash locally and captured worldwide interest, thanks to PR efforts and word-of-mouth. Social media buzz about the Choco Chip OREO and the OREO Wonder Vault skyrocketed during and after the activation, with 104MM social impressions, 150K social engagements, and 60% messaging pull-through. Across the airwaves, we received national coverage on ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliates to make 6.5MM impressions. Online media outlets couldn’t resist our “wonder-filled” narrative, as stories on AdWeek, Fox News, NBC News, Refinery29, Glamour, Teen Vogue, BuzzFeed and Eater propelled us to 7.5MM impressions. We distributed 756 samples, 168% of our goal of 500.

We transformed a sampling event into an immersive modern art exhibit to transport adults back into a key memory of childhood.

The key insight: nothing tastes like childhood more than a chocolate chip cookie.

In blending two of the world’s most popular cookies—the iconic OREO and chocolate chip—the Choco Chip OREO celebrates the nostalgia of childhood. We were challenged to create an immersive consumer environment that blended the “essence” of a chocolate chip cookie with the “Wonderfilled” spirit of OREO.

The target audience was Millennial adults who have nostalgic feelings for home and all cookie-lovers.

Consumers anxiously await the release of new and limited-edition OREO cookies. When OREO releases a new flavor, the public is invited to enter an immersive physical experience that brings the new cookie’s spirit to life.

To support OREO’s launch of the new limited-edition flavor—Choco Chip—we created an immersive branded experience that would:

1. Create a PR-able experience that generates national/local media coverage

2. Drive product trial and consumer participation through sampling and an engaging on-site experience