The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2013
Oreo turned a Super Bowl blackout into an instant 'you can still dunk in the dark' ad
When the lights went out mid-game, Oreo posted a cheeky cookie-in-the-dark photo before rivals filed a tweet.
Oreo (Mondelēz International)
the move
During Super Bowl XLVII a power failure plunged the stadium into darkness and the entire broadcast audience into a shared gap with no game to watch.
Oreo's social team jumped in and posted a single image of a cookie in the dark with the line 'You can still dunk in the dark', turning a power cut into a brand pun.
The post gathered over 14,000 retweets and far out-drew what any of the (far more expensive) Super Bowl ad slots generated that night, cementing Oreo as the reference case for real-time marketing.
why it works
- The blackout was a single unmissable moment, so being the brand that matched it made Oreo the topic rather than an interruption.
- The pun connected the physical act of dunking a cookie to the literal darkness, which needed no explanation.
- Oreo had been running a 100-day 'Daily Twist' series, so it had built the habit, tools and permission to publish fast.
- A brand that speaks during a shared national moment earns coverage and good will that no paid slot can buy.
what transfers
A real-time marketing team wins when it is allowed to publish without a long approval chain, because speed on a live moment beats budget.
what came after
'Dunk in the Dark' became the default taught case in real-time social marketing and won a Cannes Lion, though observers later noted much of its fame came from being first, not from reported sales impact. It changed how brands staffed and approve social teams.
references
- I Still Don't Heart That Cannes-Winning Oreo Thing
- Dunking Oreos in the Dark: Creative and (Potentially) Powerful Application of Omni-Channel and Real-Time Customer Marketing
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