One of the biggest fruit manufacturers in Thailand, Malee has been selling canned fruits for over 40 years. Although people love it, they only buy it on special occasions. That means a canned fruit can sit lonely on a shelf for over 360 days a year. How do we change behavior and bring canned fruit into people’s daily lives?

By personifying the canned fruit itself, we took it from the sad and lonely shelf to the hearts and routines of Thai people. #LonelyRambutan

To create new occasions and increase consumption of a highly seasonal product, we chose to dramatize the life of our canned fruit, sitting lonely on a shelf for over 360 days a year. Research shows us there are 26.7 million people feeling lonely in Thailand alone. 44.8% of them are social media addicts which is precisely where the lonely rambutan came to life online, charming its way through multiple platforms to fulfill every loner’s dream: to become a popular social media persona.

The Lonely Rambutan first came to life on a web film where it played the leading role in a Wong Kar-Wai inspired platonic love story. After 10 million views on YouTube, it was still feeling lonely so it went on Facebook. It checked-in at lonely events, tried a “free hug” experiment, even went live in the shower on a lonely Saturday night. It’s popularity soon started growing and #LonelyRambutan trended as catchword for loneliness on Twitter. It then joined Tinder, getting more than a 1,000 matches in just a few days. Every match led to an appointment at nearest 7-11 – where a Malee canned fruit was eagerly waiting at the shelf.

10 Million views on YouTube #LonelyRambutan was retweeted over 60,000 times? 1,000+ matches in Tinder 3M+ engagements 47M+ impressions 20% sales growth within first month ROI 280%