Jellybean Serves up Charity April Fool
A seven day ‘pop-up’ restaurant in East London, serving ‘pimped-up, Victorian-formula gruel’ was the recent subject of a charity April Fools’ Day prank by creative agency, Jellybean.
Borrowing heavily from the current trend for themed pop-up restaurants in the news, ‘Gruel Dudes’ and its fictional creator, Denton Fisk, took in elements of social media, digital and PR to fool readers, with £50 donated to industry charity, Hospitality Action, for every time a media outlet ran with the story.
In the end, two outlets – The Caterer and the Publican’s Morning Advertiser – printed the story in their ‘best of’ rundowns, with Jellybean placed in a top five alongside efforts from big names including Greene King, Domino’s, Costa and The Fat Duck.
Jellybean Managing Director, Fiona Rickard, commented: “Getting involved with April Fools’ Day is not just fun, it also provides a fantastic showcase for our capacity to compel and create. Tapping into the trend for leftfield ‘pop-ups’ seemed like fair game from our end, and we’re delighted it was met in the same spirit as intended, with many of our journalist friends loving the premise and the way in which it was delivered. Introducing a charity element seemed the right thing to do and we’ll continue to support Hospitality Action whenever we can.”
For the ruse, a faux twitter account was established and populated in the lead up to the day, alongside a stylish landing page and standalone press release – the overriding conceit of which was to entice diners to a disused factory space in London’s Hackney Wick to feast on gruel with expensive ‘add-on’ toppings including chia seeds, kale shavings, quinoa, local honey and foraged berries.
The twitter site can be viewed at: www.twitter.com/coolgruel
The full press release can be found here.
Jellybean is a diverse collection of minds and talents from across the industry. The RAR (Recommended Agency Register) and MAA (Marketing Agencies Association) accredited agency was recently shortlisted for both B2B Marketing and Communications Agency of the Year as well as the 2014 B2B Awards and offers unrivalled services in integrated marketing, PR, consultancy, insight, digital, creative and social media. Those looking to find out more about how Jellybean can help your brand for real can call Susan Bolam on: 01372 227950.