Snackbox Invents Celebrity Pancake Portraits

If you haven’t witnessed a celebrity pancake portrait—you’re in for a sweet treat. Google “Batter Blaster’s Celebrity Pancake Portraits” and feast your eyes. These genius portraits were a Snackbox brainchild that generated the amount of national media coverage every publicist dreams of.

Batter Blaster is a ready-made pancake and waffle batter packaged in a whipped cream style can. When the product hit the shelves after its launch, it generated media coverage solely based on the concept of batter inside a can. Shortly after, however, the product was no longer “new” to most consumers and Batter Blaster craved a way to gain media attention while staying relevant in neighborhood grocery aisles.

But what does it take to build a campaign that will ensure your client gets a generous amount of positive publicity?

Team Snackbox knew the only way to generate even bigger media coverage around a previously successful product was to follow the Snackbox motto to “think outside the box.“

Follow along as we dig deeper through an interview with the team behind the Celebrity Pancake Portrait campaign.

Q: What were some challenges Batter Blaster was facing that called for a creative campaign like pancake portraits?

A: Their challenge was that their competition was the general pancake mix from a box. There was a sales disconnection because Batter Blaster was sold in the refrigerated section of grocery stores—a place most people wanting to buy pancake mix wouldn’t go. Since it wasn’t seen next to it’s competitors, people didn’t know it was there.

Q: How did you come up with the celebrity pancake portrait idea?

A: It stemmed from sitting down and figuring out who Batter Blaster’s target audience was. Once I established the target audience was parents, I had to think of an angle that was more interesting than just getting involved with your child in the kitchen. Snackbox asked Batter Blaster if they were open to “outside of the box” ideas and they were. That’s where I pulled in my artistic sister who had the time and availability to work on a project like this, and asked her to make celebrity faces out of Batter Blaster’s pancake mix.  The goal was to get the portraits to look so similar to the celebrity that they demanded national media coverage. After a few trial runs, the portraits were spot on and we knew they were ready to pitch.

Q: What kind of coverage did you receive from the campaign?

A: We got all sorts of coverage. We started by pitching major gossip columns and went from there. Some of the huge placements we got were

Q: From a PR pro’s perspective, what is the importance of creativity when it comes to working with clients like Batter Blaster?

A: Creativity is essential in this business. There are a lot of things you need to succeed in PR. Some of those things are connections with media and writing skills– but creativity is what really gets you media exposure. Creativity and relationship building is crucial.

Shortly after this campaign, Batter Blaster was no longer the unknown pancake batter in the refrigerated aisle of the grocery store. It’s amazing what thinking outside of the box and a little creativity can do when it comes to securing media coverage successfully.

By the way, Ryan Gosling looks just as amazing as a pancake.

 

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