HORMEL® BLACK LABEL® Bacon is a premium bacon brand with a simple message: Our bacon transforms the ordinary into something extraordinary. But in 2020, consumers were stocking up on whatever bacon they could find, regardless of brand. In fact, with the COVID-19 lockdowns, demand for bacon had never been higher.

This meant no advertising — and no advertising budget. After all, why advertise for a product you could barely keep on the shelf?

Our challenge: Get America talking about the BLACK LABEL® Bacon brand — with $68,000.

We needed a big idea that would reach a huge audience (70% of American households that purchase bacon), reassert our transformative brand message, and generate some loyal followers while other brands were focused on simply meeting demand.

Most Americans don’t like wearing face masks. But nearly all of them love bacon. Solution? Give them bacon they can breathe with BLACK LABEL™ BREATHABLE Bacon, the world’s first bacon-scented face mask.

BLACK LABEL™ BREATHABLE BACON features high-resolution imagery of real bacon strips in a fashion-forward pattern, printed on 2-ply cloth utilizing the latest in pork-scented technology. The result is a blissful bacon barrier that keeps undesirable particles out and heavenly aromas in.

For those who supported masks, it was a bacon-scented innovation. For those who didn’t, it wasn’t a mask at all — it was bacon you could breathe. Either way, the result was the same: more Americans wearing masks.

BREATHABLE BACON used the love of bacon to transcend partisan politics, provide a positive PR story during The-Worst-Year-Ever™, advance a much-needed public health message, and drive awareness for BLACK LABEL™ BACON. Some said it even solved “mask breath.”

Our insight? Most Americans don’t like wearing masks.

Our key message? BLACK LABEL™ BREATHABLE BACON transforms mask-wearing into a premium nasal escape.

Between October and November of 2020, Americans were glued to TV news for COVID-19 updates and election coverage. To reach the 70% of American households that buy bacon, we sought coverage from news media and influencers by using our feel-good PR story in the middle of a rough 2020 news cycle, adding a charitable tie-in with Feeding America, and leveraging one of 2020’s most contentious topics: face masks.

After designing, testing, and smelling dozens of prototypes, we developed a CDC-compliant face mask with a long-lasting, real bacon scent. 10,000 masks were produced, then packaged to look exactly like a miniature pound of BLACK LABEL® Bacon you’d find in the supermarket. Press kits were sent out to news media, with the hope that they’d feed America our story.

On October 1, 2020, we shared key messaging, assets, sweepstakes details, and Hormel’s charitable contribution to Feeding America with key national, local, and trade media — asking them to hold their stories to coincide with our October 14 launch of BLACK LABEL™ BREATHABLE BACON.

This initial wave targeted publications with a wide national reach (USA Today, Thrillist, Yahoo! News) and food-focused publications (Foodsided, Guilty Eats, Food and Wine). Using their coverage, we piqued consumer engagement and drove social conversation to secure follow-up coverage and syndication across national networks including CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX.

Outreach also included media kits containing a BREATHABLE BACON mask, along with a personalized letter highlighting the campaign details and an invitation to visit BreathableBacon.com.

Organic social posts amplified the message, helped drive additional engagement, and reiterated that consumers had until November 1 to enter.

BLACK LABEL™ BREATHABLE BACON garnered 1.4 billion earned media impressions, 2,800 stories, 41.5 million impressions on social media, and 10,000 donated meals for Feeding America — all with a $68,000 budget spent on 10,000 bacon-scented masks and a few dozen press kits.

America’s Weatherman, Al Roker, called it “a dream come true.” The Late Show with Stephen Colbert made BREATHABLE BACON the hero of their animated holiday special. Everyone from comedian Jim Gaffigan to conservative pundit Chris Christie was on board. From news anchors to influencers, everyone was discussing whether BREATHABLE BACON would make the public more eager to wear a mask.

The story was covered by FOX, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, Bloomberg, Good Morning America, The Today Show, and more, along with hundreds of local news affiliates and thousands of online news articles. National Hog Farmer called it “revolutionary.”

Thousands of Tweets and Facebook posts poured in from the public hoping to win their very own pack of BREATHABLE BACON. YouTube streamers, Twitch gamers, and TikTok stars alike all created content covering the launch.

With the massive attention, 567,000 new bacon lovers even joined the HORMEL® BLACK LABEL® BACON mailing list.

But the best result of all? During an unimaginably tough year, BREATHABLE BACON brought a much-needed smile to America’s masked faces.