Debonairs is a fast food pizza outlet and delivery service with over 500 stores country wide in South Africa.

The Debonairs Delivery Man has been a brand icon for over 20 years. But, people seem to have stopped caring. So, how did we revive a brand icon? By chopping his head off.

Inspired by a local urban legend of a ghostly beheaded mine-worker, we created an eerie Headless Delivery Man that would haunt Twitter and hi-jack the entire Halloween conversation.

With under R80 000 media spend available, we leaked spooky Headless Man “sightings” and fueled conversations with absolutely no brand attachment. In collaboration with Media Shop we ensured #HeadlessMan hit the news too, with the mysterious sightings featuring on 20 online news sites. The result was a creepy mystery that set social media alight, until Debonairs eventually claimed the mysterious figure as their own.

With under R80 000 media spend available, we leaked spooky Headless Man “sightings” and fueled conversations with absolutely no brand attachment. In collaboration with Media Shop we ensured #HeadlessMan hit the news too, with the mysterious sightings featuring on 20 online news sites. The result was a creepy mystery that set social media alight, until Debonairs eventually claimed the mysterious figure as their own.

With under R80 000 media spend available, we leaked spooky Headless Man “sightings” and fueled conversations with absolutely no brand attachment. In collaboration with Media Shop we ensured #HeadlessMan hit the news too, with the mysterious sightings featuring on 20 online news sites. The result was a creepy mystery that set social media alight, until Debonairs eventually claimed the mysterious figure as their own.

#HeadlessMan trended for 5 consecutive days over Halloween, reaching 51 million people, achieving 661 million impressions and earning R41million in free media. In just 5 days.

With under R80 000 media spend available, we leaked spooky Headless Man “sightings” and fueled conversations with absolutely no brand attachment. In collaboration with Media Shop we ensured #HeadlessMan hit the news too, with the mysterious sightings featuring on 20 online news sites. The result was a creepy mystery that set social media alight, until Debonairs eventually claimed the mysterious figure as their own.

#HeadlessMan trended for 5 consecutive days over Halloween, reaching 51 million people, achieving 661 million impressions and earning R41million in free media. In just 5 days.