How does one cause a stir about a new mayo squeeze bottle?

Create a mayonnaise crisis.

With some investigation, we discovered enough mayo went missing in 2014 to make 16K lobster rolls, 32K BLTs, and top 30K burgers. 1,000 pounds to be exact.

But who was causing this “Missing Mayo Crisis”?

The truth hit us right in the gut. We were. Hellmann’s Mayonnaise was getting stuck at the bottom of our own faulty squeeze bottles.

So we issued a Mayo Culpa and redesigned a NEW Hellmann’s Squeeze bottle to squeeze MORE mayonnaise out. Then, we laid out the facts with a national PSA, infographic and targeted social media.

We actively promoted this “crisis,” keeping the story fresh – so no one would make the mistake of picking up an old squeeze bottle ever again.

And the results show…it worked.

We created moments throughout the campaign period for fans to enjoy a best-in-class Squeeze experience, driving squeeze-positive messaging through media coverage and consumer testimonials.

We sent Valentine’s deliveries to media–an invitation to accept our apology and become our “new main Squeeze,” complete with a Tinder dating profile that was fun and functional, just like Squeeze!

To sustain the summer Squeeze coverage, we capitalized on food milestones to insert Hellmann’s into ongoing conversations with influencers, and utilized standout tactics to bring “our crisis” to life for priority outlets.

We celebrated National BLT Day with a Fox & Friends segment featuring a massive 15-foot BLT. Then partnered with Johnny Rockets to serve up burger lunches to our favorite foodie and lifestyle media on National Burger Day.

We even had media buzzing about the missing mayonnaise drama finally coming to an end! Millennial-media-powerhouses BuzzFeed and PSFK.com both wrote homepage feature stories.

Our Mayo Culpa was a success.

Key results:

• 1MM+ PSA Views

• 578 media Placements (272MM earned media impressions)

• 98MM social media engagement

Product coverage depth and tone were superior:

• Over 70% of coverage featured messaging tied to Hellmann’s trifecta of Squeeze bottle benefits: less waste, less mess and more control

• 95% of coverage included Hellmann’s Squeeze product, messaging and/or imagery

The highlights:

• Two tech-savvy features on BuzzFeed and PSFK – the latter which appeared front-and-center on PSFK’s homepage and became the #1 trending article of the day.

• Strong reach and visibility in mainstream food and lifestyle media such as FoodNetwork.com, Fox & Friends and USWeekly.com.

• Credibility coverage building within the industry trades: Progressive Grocer, Packaging Digest, and Greener Package.