Creativity is at its most magical in childhood. We wanted to reconnect consumers with that – the part of them with unrelenting passion for creativity and color, who sees an imaginary story behind everything. So, we created a story, and a personality and animated character for the retiring color – so consumers wouldn’t just be saying goodbye to a crayon, but a colleague in creativity. His story told of an adventurous life – only to be continued in retirement. #CelebrateDandelion became an integrated effort, to tell the story of “Dan D.” and leveraged press, social and live activation to engage consumers on a personal, and multi-dimensional level using all the whimsy, creativity and wonder of a child’s imagination. The lighthearted and vibrant nature of the story also encouraged people to unleash their own passion for color and join in to celebrate the character’s retirement officially on National Crayon Day.

Seven days before National Crayon Day - a giant box of Crayons placed in Herald Square announced that an undisclosed crayon would retire. Social messaging fueled online conversations and got people involved, sharing their own ideas of who would retire using hashtags #whosleaving, and #shareyourfave.

The day before National Crayon Day, one of our biggest retail partners leaked the news that it was Dandelion by placing the promotional packaging in-store a day early, which we used to have Dandelion (aka “Dan D.”) release his ‘surprise’ early announcement in an animated video. From this moment, the crayon became a character and the story of his incredible career in creativity was known to the world.

On National Crayon Day, the buzz culminated in an official retirement party (press event) in Times Square with Dandelion. The interactive and imaginative space brought life to the character and impact of his retirement.

Crayola turned its iconic tradition into a cultural zeitgeist – generating more than 4 billion impressions in just a week, including countless headlines that dominated the news cycle. Overall, the brand got more than $14 million dollars in earned broadcast media alone – with 1,400 TV stories on National Crayon Day alone. Everyone including kids, adults, and even brands shared the news on social media, generating more than 1.2 billion social impressions (a 22x increase compared to the previous year). Consumers rushed to stores to grab the last available Dandelion crayons, which resulted in a 621% increase of sales on all yellow items, and a sales increase of 75% on the 24-count crayon packs across all key retailers. The brand, and imaginations of creators everywhere, was very much alive and connected to their inner child.