Publicis and digital agency Swift are launching a new campaign for Hot Pockets targeting the brand’s core demographic of bros who don’t know how to cook and are too inebriated to warm up a frozen pizza in the oven.
Publicis’ 30-second broadcast spot “Welcome To The Hot Pockets House” posits the horrifying idea of roommates living in a house where the only option for food involves a fridge full of Hot Pockets and six branded microwaves (there better be a lot of bathrooms).
“At our house, we’re always down for more,” says one of the men living in the Twilight Zone nightmare of a frat house at the opening of the spot, “and the heartiness of Hot Pockets makes that more possible.” He then introduces viewers to the house’s handcrafted skydiving chamber, which one housemate enters to help another “refuel” with a microwaved meat pastry/efficient mouth-burning apparatus. Thanks, bro!
In addition to the broadcast spot, which launched yesterday, the campaign also features digital elements from Swift. These include social media elements, a specialized Popkey GIF keyboard and six videos from Vine personalities promoting the brand which will launch in the near future. There’s also a Spanish-language component, courtesy of agency Casanova Pendrill. The campaign will run through mid-May and includes a call to fans to share videos using the hashtag #honoraryroommate.
“We found that our consumers that really love the brand are all hungering for more out of life,” Hot Pockets director of marketing Mohini Joshi told AdAge. One thing that kept coming up with the brand’s core customer base of 18-34-year-old men, she told the publication, is that “they get interrupted by their hunger” (presumably while playing Call of Duty) and that the brand can embrace the role of “refueling” its fans. She added that spending for “Welcome To The Hot Pockets House” was in line with past campaigns, but with a greater emphasis on digital due to “a really strong return” on the format in previous efforts.