Wendy's Keeping Fortnite Fresh Campaign | Clapboard Ad Archive

Keeping Fortnite Fresh

Description

Keeping Fortnite Fresh is a dynamic integrated campaign developed by VMLY&R Kansas City for Wendy's, launched in the United States in June 2019. This innovative campaign creatively merges the worlds of gaming and food to engage a younger, digitally savvy audience through a popular cultural touchpoint—Fortnite. By leveraging the widespread appeal of the Fortnite gaming phenomenon, Wendy's strategically positioned itself as a fresh and relevant brand in the competitive fast-food industry. The campaign’s primary objective was to emphasize Wendy's commitment to quality and freshness, cleverly tying these attributes to the ever-evolving nature of Fortnite. This fusion of food messaging with gaming culture not only captured attention but also fostered meaningful engagement, showcasing Wendy's ability to connect with a diverse consumer base in an authentic and entertaining manner. Utilizing a single impactful media asset, the campaign demonstrated the power of integrated marketing by seamlessly combining digital media, social engagement, and cultural relevance to keep the brand top-of-mind among millennials and Gen Z consumers. This approach highlights the effectiveness of using popular entertainment platforms as a vehicle for brand storytelling, thereby reinforcing Wendy’s position as an innovative leader in the food industry. Overall, Keeping Fortnite Fresh exemplifies a forward-thinking marketing strategy that blends creative insight with cultural trends to drive brand affinity and consumer interaction in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

Credits

Client

Wendy's

Agency

VMLY&R, USA

More like this

Top Dog - Avocados from Mexico | Clapboard Ad Archive

Top Dog is a 2019 campaign from Avocados from Mexico crafted by BBDO that leverages the brand’s hallmark blend of humor, celebrity presence, and high-concept storytelling to assert its dominance in the competitive US food category. Launched strategically in February to align with peak cultural moments such as the Super Bowl, the campaign uses a single film asset to deliver a sharply executed narrative that positions Avocados from Mexico as the undisputed leader— the top dog— in freshness and quality. This approach fits squarely within Clapboard’s FORMAT#8 ONGOING CHARACTERS OR CELEBRITIES, where recurring personalities and star power serve as the primary vehicle for brand recall and engagement rather than direct product demonstration or testimonial formats. BBDO’s creative direction capitalizes on entertainment value, embedding Avocados from Mexico within relatable, humorous scenarios that resonate broadly while reinforcing the brand’s premium positioning without overt selling. The campaign eschews problem-solution tropes, instead banking on the cultural cachet of its celebrity ensemble to deliver messaging that is instantly memorable and shareable, ensuring high impact in a cluttered marketplace. By invoking a narrative of authentic quality and versatile appeal through a character-driven format, Avocados from Mexico strengthens emotional connections with consumers, driving brand loyalty and awareness in a category where differentiation is critical. The campaign earns 61/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. Top Dog exemplifies how food brands can harness star-led storytelling and cultural timing to elevate category perception while maintaining a consistent, entertaining brand voice, demonstrating that strategic use of recurring characters remains a powerful tool for sustained brand leadership in food advertising.

Campaign Proposition

Wendy’s “Keeping Fortnite Fresh” campaign leverages the cultural relevance of the popular video game Fortnite to reinforce the brand’s promise of delivering fresh, quality food in a playful and contemporary context. By aligning itself with a leading entertainment phenomenon among younger consumers, Wendy’s positions its offerings as both timely and appealing to a demographic that values novelty and authenticity in both their digital and real-world experiences. The market strategy hinges on an insightful fusion of gaming culture with food marketing, targeting primarily younger, digitally native audiences who engage deeply with Fortnite. This approach capitalizes on the game’s widespread popularity and community engagement to create a connection beyond traditional advertising channels. The campaign employs a creative angle that mirrors the dynamic and constantly evolving nature of Fortnite, subtly suggesting that Wendy’s, like the game, stays fresh and relevant in an ever-changing landscape. By integrating this media asset within an integrated campaign framework and focusing on performance, the work aims to drive both awareness and consumer action through cultural resonance rather than direct product push. The choice of VMLY&R Kansas City as the creative agency further indicates a data-driven, strategic execution designed to balance entertainment and brand messaging effectively within the competitive U.S. food and drink market.

Creative Device

FORMAT#12 PARODY OR BORROWED FORMAT — Uses or parodies pop culture formats like films, shows, or genres. "Keeping Fortnite Fresh" unmistakably fits FORMAT#12 because it borrows the recognizable world and conventions of Fortnite—a massively popular video game—for its campaign. The title and context signal a creative device that integrates Wendy’s brand message into the culture and mechanics of Fortnite, using that platform as a borrowed entertainment format. Instead of using a classic demonstration, story-driven arc, or symbolism, the campaign leverages Fortnite’s genre, language, and visual world to communicate its freshness claim, engaging the game’s community by parodying or “hacking” the pop-cultural context for brand messaging. This is a textbook example of using a borrowed pop culture framework to reach and resonate with a targeted, digitally native audience. ADVERTISING FORMATS EXPLAINED: https://www.clapboard.com/blog/branding-and-advertising/brand-strategy/12-advertising-creative-formats

Unicorn Trap - Lucky Charms | Clapboard Ad Archive

Lucky Charms’ 2019 Unicorn Trap campaign launched in the United States represents a sophisticated and playful exploration of the brand’s mythical identity through the medium of film, targeting the competitive Food category with a fresh narrative twist that hinges on the symbolic and theatrical. This campaign embraces what Clapboard’s taxonomy classifies as FORMAT#3—Symbolize the Problem—deploying a metaphorical unicorn trap as an allegory for the elusive delight of capturing the brand’s signature unicorn marshmallow, a core product touchpoint that resonates with both nostalgic consumers and younger audiences drawn to fantasy-driven storytelling. Rather than a straightforward demonstration of product features or direct consumer testimonials, the campaign dramatizes the allure and challenge of the unicorn, transforming it into a theatrical performance that elevates the brand’s magic and fun without resorting to celebrity endorsements or parody. Lucky Charms leverages two distinct film assets that weave this allegory into an immersive experience, crafting a narrative that plays on imagination and the thrill of the chase inherent in the cereal’s marshmallow shapes, thus reinforcing brand distinctiveness in a cluttered breakfast aisle. The campaign’s visual storytelling balances humor and whimsy, employing exaggerated scenarios that underscore the brand’s approachable personality and its longstanding commitment to creativity, enhancing emotional engagement and deepening consumer loyalty. This approach allows Lucky Charms to sustain its iconic position while innovating within its category, making the product experience itself a source of entertainment and conversation. The campaign’s integration of film as a core medium facilitates a dynamic, sensory appeal that extends beyond static advertising, encouraging repeat engagement and sharing. Clapboard rates this campaign 60/100 in its global creative archive. This campaign matters to the industry because it demonstrates how food brands can harness symbolic storytelling and theatricality to transform product attributes into engaging narratives that elevate brand personality and consumer connection in a saturated marketplace.

Domino's Surprise Frees - Domino's | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

Domino's Surprise Frees - Domino's | Clapboard Ad Archive

Domino’s Surprise Frees campaign, conceived by WorkInProgress and launched in the United States in 2021, leveraged a sharply competitive insight to reposition the world’s largest pizza company as the consumer-first antidote to an industry-wide frustration: unexpected delivery fees. At the very moment when food delivery surged across digital channels, Domino’s identified and challenged the opaque practices of rival delivery apps, swapping surprise fees for what it positioned as a radically positive alternative — Surprise Frees, a nationwide activation rewarding randomly selected online delivery customers with free menu staples, from Hand Tossed Pizzas and Boneless Chicken to Stuffed Cheesy Bread and Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes. Anchoring the creative strategy in what Clapboard’s taxonomy would classify as FORMAT#4—Contrast with the Competition, the campaign established its core narrative in a direct, head-to-head public value proposition that called out the negative norm and repositioned Domino’s as the transparent, value-driven leader. This positioning move resonated both tactically and emotionally, surfacing in every touchpoint: broadcast, paid social, earned media, and Domino’s owned digital infrastructure, including a purpose-built microsite for participation and campaign transparency. By investing $50 million in Surprise Frees and integrating an accessible, highly public call-to-action via the #freesnotfees tag, Domino’s amplified both reach and engagement, organically driving buzz with consumers eager for relief from hidden costs. Performance was bolstered by over 8 million views on digital video assets, making the offer not just a point of difference but a headline story within food and drink marketing. In a category where key players like Pizza Hut emphasize menu breadth and family appeal, Papa John’s foregrounds quality and provenance, Little Caesars competes on affordability and speed, and Papa Murphy’s carves out a unique take-and-bake proposition, Domino’s harnessed its technological advantage and national scale to own the value narrative at the highest level of relevance. The campaign’s clear rules, entry process, and odds-of-winning structure further reinforced Domino’s commitment to transparency and built trust with an audience already skeptical of fine print in the food delivery space. Clapboard rates this 76/100. By recasting the industry’s most unpopular surprise as a positive brand action, Domino’s demonstrates that transparency and generosity remain powerful levers for differentiation in a digitally competitive, experience-driven market.

The World's Slowest Pizza Delivery - Sargento | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

The World's Slowest Pizza Delivery - Sargento | Clapboard Ad Archive

Sargento’s 2019 campaign The World’s Slowest Pizza Delivery, crafted by Ogilvy for the United States market, ingeniously anchors its entire creative premise on the brand’s distinctive product trait: the extended aging process of its Reserve Series cheese, which requires between four and eighteen months to develop its fullest flavor. This integrated campaign in the competitive Food & Drink category disrupts conventional promotional tactics by offering consumers a free pizza topped with this premium aged cheese, but with a deliberate twist—the pizza arrives only after the cheese has matured, turning the idea of instant gratification on its head and transforming patience into a core part of the brand experience. By leveraging a microsite, www.SlowestPizzaDelivery.com, the campaign invites audiences to explore the variety of aged cheese pizzas and engage deeply with the narrative that exceptional flavor demands time, elevating Sargento from a commodity cheese producer to a curator of artisanal taste craftsmanship. The campaign’s tone strikes a rare balance between playful humor and sophisticated storytelling, using the slow delivery concept as a metaphor for quality and care that cannot be rushed, which aligns perfectly with the brand’s positioning in the premium segment. Rather than relying on celebrity endorsements or traditional problem/solution frameworks, Ogilvy’s approach spotlights the product’s unique origin and maturation process as the sole driver of consumer interest, an approach that sits squarely in Clapboard’s FORMAT#11 UNIQUE PERSONALITY PROPERTY classification by emphasizing a singular product identity as the campaign’s heartbeat. The integrated medium deployment ensures that this message resonates consistently across channels, building buzz and fostering lasting brand affinity through an experiential mechanic that turns waiting into anticipation and anticipation into appreciation. This campaign earns a 79/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. The World’s Slowest Pizza Delivery matters to the food advertising industry because it demonstrates how embracing a product’s intrinsic qualities as a creative fulcrum can redefine consumer engagement by making the act of waiting itself a compelling narrative device.

Find Goldfish in the metaverse — archive collection thumbnail

Find Goldfish in the metaverse

In 2022, Campbell’s and Campbell’s Company of Canada, in collaboration with ad agency Zulu Alpha Kilo, launched an innovative integrated campaign called Find Goldfish in the Metaverse, designed to promote the new Goldfish® Mega Bites crackers. This campaign cleverly leveraged the rising popularity of the metaverse, specifically the Decentraland platform, to engage a digitally savvy adult audience through an immersive virtual experience. Central to the campaign is a playful narrative featuring a quirky robot who humorously distinguishes between “Mega Bites,” the new larger-sized Goldfish crackers meant for humans, and “megabytes,” the digital units of information that concerned robot characters within the story. Users are invited into “Mega Bites Mountain,” a vivid cheddar-themed world where they can mine virtual Goldfish crackers, collecting all 22 digital pieces to unlock a special edition Goldfish® Megabytes wearable. This gamified journey rewards participants with the opportunity to redeem coupons for free packs of the real-life product, seamlessly bridging the digital and physical worlds. The campaign amplifies the ‘Mega Bites not Megabytes’ message by turning digital engagement into tangible rewards, fostering a novel brand interaction driven by innovation and fun. By choosing Decentraland, one of the blockchain’s most established metaverse platforms known for enabling user-generated content, social interaction, and digital commerce, the campaign positioned Goldfish® at the forefront of food brands experimenting with virtual reality marketing strategies. This pioneering effort not only introduced Goldfish® Mega Bites in a memorable and interactive way but also demonstrated the brand’s commitment to embracing emerging technologies to captivate and expand its audience. Overall, Find Goldfish in the Metaverse stands out as a forward-thinking campaign that successfully blends storytelling, technology, and product promotion into a cohesive and engaging consumer experience.

Willboards presented by Maxim espresso T.O.P - Maxim espresso T.O.P | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

Willboards presented by Maxim espresso T.O.P - Maxim espresso T.O.P | Clapboard Ad Archive

Willboards presented by Maxim espresso T.O.P marked a bold creative pivot for the South Korean ready-to-drink coffee market in 2019, positioning the brand as a catalyst for action in the small yet significant ambitions of daily life rather than simply a fuel for work or focus. Developed by INNORED, the campaign leveraged the relatable tension of resolute declarations — like setting diet goals — that so often end in late-night lapses, reframing Maxim espresso T.O.P as the companion that sustains the passion required for real follow-through. Central to the campaign was an insight drawn from behavioral psychology, known as the Profess Effect, which posits that making one’s goals public solidifies commitment. This insight powered the participatory mechanism at the heart of the marketing: consumers were invited to share their aspirations on a mobile promotional site, and one hundred of these real ambitions, ranging from fitness resolutions to personal growth targets, were turned into public Willboards placed across Seoul — transforming fleeting internal promises into communal social contracts on a metropolitan scale. The narrative arc found its emotional anchor in an engaging online video featuring a young woman who credits her personal progress to the very existence of these Willboards, creating a tangible link between the product, the campaign, and everyday achievement. By connecting user-generated aspiration with striking out-of-home executions and amplified through a campaign video that resonated widely, Willboards presented by Maxim espresso T.O.P engineered a high-visibility, high-engagement presence, driving home the idea that this coffee is more than refreshment — it is an ally in the ongoing pursuit of day-to-day goals. This strategic integration of digital and physical activation enabled a community-driven experience that stood out in a competitive landscape dominated by brands like Starbucks, Ediya Coffee, Cantata, and Georgia Coffee, each vying to become part of consumers’ daily routines. The approach sits squarely in Clapboard’s FORMAT#6—Benefit Causes Story, orchestrating every creative element around the product’s distinct promise: fueling passion as the spark for ambition and accountability, not just taste or convenience. With the campaign video drawing over eight million views, Maxim espresso T.O.P created substantial cultural resonance and positioned itself as a motivational companion in the busy rhythms of modern Korean life. Clapboard rates this 79/100. For brands seeking cultural relevance beyond category conventions, Willboards demonstrates the value of embedding the product benefit as the very mechanism by which audiences can achieve genuine, everyday progress.

A dog brings it back - Pedigree | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

A dog brings it back - Pedigree | Clapboard Ad Archive

Pedigree’s 2019 Brazil campaign A dog brings it back, created by BBDO, delivers a resonant message about the healing potential of dog adoption in a market grappling with widespread emotional distress, including a 5.8% depression rate as reported by the World Health Organization. This integrated campaign employs a poignant and symbolic narrative centered on the universal act of playing fetch, transforming it into a metaphor for restoring intangible human needs such as love, happiness, life, and hope—qualities physically represented by fetch toys emblazoned with these words. These toys were distributed to influencers and individuals recovering from personal hardships, who experienced the metaphor firsthand as their dogs returned these symbolic virtues, embodying the restorative power of pets beyond mere companionship. The campaign’s core asset, an animated short film, uses poetic storytelling to evoke empathy and optimism, steering clear of direct depictions of depression or product-centric demonstrations and instead focusing on emotional benefit through visual symbolism. What Clapboard’s taxonomy classifies as FORMAT#9—Symbolize the Benefit—underpins this approach, leveraging exaggerated visuals and metaphor to communicate the profound impact dog adoption can have on mental well-being. The campaign’s cultural relevance is amplified by its social responsibility angle and its use of the hashtag #AdotarÉTudoDeBom, which reinforces adoption as a source of life-affirming goodness. Pedigree and BBDO’s work in the Pets industry here integrates emotional storytelling with tangible, playful interaction, crafting a narrative that aligns the brand with both advocacy and affection in the Food & Drink category. The campaign earns 76/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. This campaign matters to the industry because it demonstrates how brands in traditionally product-focused categories can lead cultural conversations by humanizing their messaging and embracing symbolism to connect with consumers on deeper emotional levels.