On Halloween kids in America dress up in costume and go from door-to-door trick-or-treating, with the intention of gathering and eating as much candy as possible. For Crest and Oral-B's 2013 Halloween initiative, we took a different approach to reminding kids to care for their teeth. Rather than lecture them about the dangers of indulging in eating candy, we tried something far more unique. We created a film whose central idea was taking candy away and replacing it with healthy treats. Groups of unsuspecting kids—all in charming, funny, and totally off the wall costumes -- were encouraged 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.”

The intent was to find children with outspoken, assertive, highly opinionated personalities who would have no problem delivering visceral reactions to the bland, horrible tasting treats made from seaweed, tofu, and vegetables that they were tricked into sampling. The kids that were cast were given costumes that complimented their appearances and personalities, to further create humorous moments. These casting choices delivered truly priceless results, with some of the kids uttering lines that soon became catchphrases as the video immediately went viral. To help facilitate getting these reactions, an improv comedian was also cast as the adult moderator who set up this elaborate prank-like experiment and tried to convince the kids that these treats were delicious. Of course, the kids thought otherwise, creating a highly entertaining web film that soon went viral, attaining 7 million views on YouTube in only a few days after its release.