“Wendy’s. Doesn’t. Do. Frozen. Beef.” A clear message received by fans of Fortnite, an online game which has one of the largest community of active players.
The first-person shooting game became such a sensation around the world, with millions of players competing in the game’s servers, and millions more tuning in to live streams. The community was so big, brands couldn’t help but enter the game, so to speak.
Sponsor
When Fortnite installed a new expansion called Food Fight, Wendy’s and VMLY&R Kansas City saw an opportunity and explored how the game worked. But upon entering, they saw freezers in burger joints, and instantly found a way to engage players and fans of the game.
The Social & Influencer Grand Prix goes to… @VMLYR for the brilliant Keeping Fortnite Fresh campaign, with @Wendys!
— LIONS | The Home of Creativity (@Cannes_Lions) June 19, 2019
By recording and streaming footage of a Wendy’s-based character destroying freezers (because they don’t do frozen beef), the fast food chain successfully penetrated not just the Fortnite or the gaming community, but also live streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube. And beyond the recognition in the online community, the campaign was also picked up by various media outlets, thus earning it its Social and Influencer Grand Prix award.
Other campaigns that won gold are:
“Nike Dream Crazy” by WIEDEN+KENNEDY, Portland for Nike(2 Golds)
“My Life as an NPC” by ODYSSEY DDB PARIS for Obisoft
“Sleeping Giants – A Campaign to Defund Bigotry” by Sleeping Giants, San Francisco for Sleeping Giants
“Nike Dream Crazier” by WIEDEN+KENNEDY, Portland for Nike
“Generation Lockdown” by McCANN NEW YORK for March For Our Lives
“Be A Follower” by PUBLICIS ITALY, Milan for DIESEL
