Twinkies, Ding-Dongs and Donettes return with a multi-platform campaign
Twinkies, CupCakes, Donettes, and Ding-Dongs - the all-American snacks that disappeared when Hostess filed for bankruptcy last year - have made a return to supermarket shelves with a new campaign comprising social media, print and experiential activity.
The activity was developed by Bernstein-Rein Advertising and has used the tagline ‘The Sweetest Comeback in the History of Ever’.
As part of the campaign, a giant billboard of a Twinkie was placed in a prime Times Square location and a giant chocolate cupcake was put on the side of Los Angeles' Figueroa Hotel, while the new Hostess website featured a countdown clock.
But, the campaign has mainly relied on social media, with the Hostess Facebook page and its 440,000 ‘likes’ being leveraged to help spread the word that it is back.
Hostess reps were in major cities across the country this week, handing out "Prepare Your Cake Face" T-shirts and "I saved the Twinkie" badges and asking people to upload Vine and Instagram videos of excited “cake faces”.
A Twinkies food truck tour has also been travelling the country passing out free Twinkies.
"We want people to know that it's the same Hostess, but with a different attitude," said Dave Lubeck, executive director for client services at Bernstein-Rein Advertising. "It's younger, more aggressive."