Crock-Pot®, the brand, was innocent. That’s the truth, and that’s what we told the world. But to fans of the show, Crock-Pot® killed Jack. Indeed, a janky slow-cooker started the fire on the #1 hit drama show on national television, but that didn’t mean Crock-Pots were causing fires, burning down homes, or making children fatherless across the country. We needed to prove that we were innocent and separate the television storyline from a real-life brand crisis. We needed to turn enemies into friends and bring people together. To do so, we turned to the star of the show, bringing him back to life, and invited him to express that there was no bad blood between his character, Jack, and the slow-cooker. If Milo Ventimiglia (Jack) could publicly forgive Crock-Pot®, perhaps the public would listen and forgive as well. This would soon become the first ever apology by a TV actor.

Speed and creative ingenuity were the key ingredients that secured our innocence. Each activation invited unparalleled results through unexpected partners and fans. From our empathetic, yet playful social response and the creation of @CrockPotCares, the brand’s first Twitter account, we addressed the conversation head on. This, coupled with our interactions with the media, including the countless broadcast news coverage, late-night television monologues, and multiple references with the “Queen of Daytime Television,” Ellen DeGeneres — Crock-Pot® was proven innocent. For two weeks, the topic of ‘This Is Us’ and Crock-Pot® dominated social media and social circles alike. But we were just getting warmed up, and the pivotal moment in our execution exceeded everyone’s expectations. In partnership with the nation’s largest television network, Milo forgave the slow-cooker. Teased out on Today, and then amplified on social media, it was the first ever public apology by a TV actor in history.

Crock-Pot® answered with the first public apology by a TV actor in television history. Experts, media and public alike characterized the ‘apology’ as a “Crock-Pot® Super Bowl Ad”, a $5M+ value, costing the brand $0, declaring we were “winning the Super Bowl without even having a commercial.” The strategic release of the creative video (apology) on the Today Show, one day before Super Bowl 52, had an audience of 4.51M viewers (4.37M Twitter followers). We also launched @CrockPotCares, the brand’s first Twitter account to address concerns and questions. The account grew over 2000% within the first 48 hours.

Our efforts garnered over 3.7 billion impressions in less than three weeks of sustained coverage, resulting in 20,036 articles and 796,600+ social mentions. Despite being faced with the biggest crisis in the brand’s history, Crock-Pot® did not experience a decline in sales. Rather, sales increased 3.1% YoY, defying prior brand sales trends.

Perception isn’t reality, or is it? When a faulty slow-cooker, featured on American TV's #1 hit drama, burns down the family home and kills everyone’s most loved dad, Jack Pearson — the nation cried out; “Crock-Pot Killed Jack!” Thrust into an unexpected firestorm, Crock-Pot® cooked up a strategic recipe to extinguish the misdirected hatred, defend the brand and playfully remind the world that #CrockPotIsInnocent. Instead of fighting fire with fire, we capitalized on the moment, responded with comforting tweets, issued the first public apology by a TV actor in history and elevated the brand from killer, to pop-culture hero.

The issue literally ignited overnight. By 9 a.m. the next day, 618 news articles had already posted, and social media fiercely blamed Crock-Pot® for killing Jack. Leading with a corporate statement wouldn’t suffice, and the murder and arson accusations stacking up against us were being taken literally. We quickly identified the need to focus our efforts on social media as online conversation was the lead driver behind traditional coverage. In addition, roughly 85 percent of social conversation was focused on Twitter. With a balance of empathy and playful defense, our social-centric response ensured one message was heard around the world - #CrockPotIsInnocent. Through a strategic cadence of touchpoints over the course of two weeks, and with the help of some new friends in Hollywood, including Milo Ventimiglia declaring Crock-Pot blameless, we secured our transformation from kitchen killer to the appliance darling of pop culture.

The nation’s #1 TV show, ‘This Is Us’, captivated its audience quickly, acquiring an almost cult-like fan base as it tells the story of the Pearson family. The most captivating storyline that kept viewers tuning in week after week was the ultimate passing of the beloved father. On January 23rd, 2018, the dreaded episode aired, lifting the veil on how Jack, played by Milo Ventimiglia, died. The cause of death? A fire caused by an old, faulty slow-cooker kitchen appliance. Crock-Pot®, the iconic leader of the slow-cooker market share in the U.S. took all the heat. Fans erupted and unleashed their misplaced hatred towards the brand, and for the first time in its 70-year history, Crock-Pot® was playing the lead role in media coverage for all the wrong reasons.