Dunkin and Oreo had to catch users’ eyes as they scrolled their social feed, keeping their attention throughout the activation. People love to tell brands something’s wrong through Twitter. Both Oreo and Dunkin’ have globally recognized logos and a over two million combined followers. Switching Twitter feeds naturally led fans to call us out and volunteer an active role in helping us switch back. We knew they’d suggest Oreo and Dunkin’ come together, thanks to the well-known plot of the classic movie Freaky Friday.

In a complete surprise to the Twittersphere, Dunkin’ and Oreo swapped Twitter accounts. For one day, the brands switched profile photos, colors, and copywriters, knowing fans would instantly engage. As we expected, followers quickly suggested we work together to undo the glitch. This led to digital brainstorming, as the swapped Dunkin’ and Oreo accounts pitched each other possible collaborations. Each collaboration was represented by napkin-sketch style illustrations, allowing followers to feel like they had a view “behind the curtain” as the dialogue grew in real time. Fans critiqued each post, adding to the conversation. Finally, the new Oreo donut and hot chocolate--the actual products we intended to launch—were posted, “magically” switching the Twitter feeds back to normal.

The media budget for this project was miniscule, but we still needed to make a splash to launch a new product in a category that is oversaturated with LTOs. Dunkin’ wanted to leverage its partnership with Oreo beyond mere product innovation. What we lacked in budget, we had in followers, so capitalizing on an existing audience and fandom was the perfect solution. Not only did the stunt spark conversation, but the very distinct “swapped” profile photos instantly grabbed attention and stopped the dreaded “scroll-by” behavior on social media.

This was a daylong Twitter campaign that ran on October 2, 2018. The day began with each brand posting a GIF of a “glitch” that inexplicably swapped Dunkin’ and Oreo’s iconic logos. Then, Dunkin’ began posting Oreo tweets. Oreo began posting Dunkin’ tweets. Fans took notice and joined the conversation, letting the brands know that something was up. Dunkin’ and Oreo realized that, just like in the movie, they would have to work together to switch back to their normal selves. They got to work exchanging product collaborations via image posts and illustrated mock-ups. Tongue-in-cheek proposals included Oreo-dusted hashbrowns and a giant donut made of stuck together Oreos. Finally, they landed on the right product collaborations, launching the Oreo Donut and Hot Chocolate. The glitch was undone and order was restored.

The “Freaky Tuesday” activation resulted in 92,249 engagements, 120,038 views, and 1,168,890 impressions. This large audience was reached by a first-of-its-kind execution all for the price of a few banner ads. The success was a cumulative result of optimizing an activation specifically for Twitter, hacking the logos, the inclusion of interesting technical illustrations, and the overall uniqueness of what we were presenting to fans.