Objective: Promote a limited-time offer slush flavor at Sonic during the peak summer season.
Strategy: To stand out from the "1.39 Million Drink Combinations" offered at Sonic on a daily basis, we marketed this limited-time offer as a one-day-only mystery flavor, and created a playful "origins" video to tell the story of how the slush flavor was made.
Outcome: The animated video illustrated wild, imaginary ways the mystery slush flavor was created, from a trinicorn (a unicorn with three horns, obviously) cutting up fruit with its horns, to a pack of miniature cheetahs who tear up patches of ice when they run around. The unique video piqued interest, driving consumers to Sonic lots so they could taste the mystery flavor for themselves.
Sonic Drive-In consumers are adventurous eaters - they don't order the same thing every time they're at Sonic, nor would they ever want to. Where's the fun in that?
To capture these consumers' attentions with a limited-time slush flavor, we knew we needed to play to their natural curiosity. So, we went all in on a one-day Mystery Disappearing Slush flavor, teased with a short animated video to tell the story behind the flavor.
And what better story than two guys, sitting in their car at the drive-in, trying to imagine how the mystery flavor is made? From magic elves with ice chip hands, to two lumberjack brothers chopping ice, to a harvesting from a malacier (you know, a Mars glacier), the possibilities get weirder and weirder. At the end, the two guys accept that they'll never know for sure,. After all, who cares when it's so delicious?
The video's style exemplifies the fantastical nature of its plot: It's bright, colorful and sharp, playing to the millennial audience. With more than 100,000 views across Sonic's social presences, the video set the tone for a successful campaign that drove consumers to Sonic lots for the one-day-only Mystery Disappearing Slush.
