Barefoot’s Black Eyed Peas Partnership Brings an AR Experience to Wine Lovers

The wine and bubbly brand has partnered with the pop-rap group for Band Together, a campaign inviting fans to download a custom AR app to activate an animated remix of the group’s new song “Vida Loca” and spur donations to two national nonprofits.

To participate, consumers can scan a QR code at Band Together displays in retail stores nationwide or online to access the campaign website, where they’ll be prompted to download the app.

Using the app, fans can scan the brand’s foot logo on Barefoot Still Wines and Hard Seltzer products to trigger different vocals, instrumentals and custom animated avatars of members Will.i.am, Apl.de.ap and Taboo. Once a certain number of labels are scanned, the app broadcasts the remix in full.

“We believe music and wine are the perfect pairing, and wanted to provide a fun, unique way for Barefoot consumers to enjoy both,” said Anna Bell, vp of marketing at Barefoot. “People are trying to connect and engage with one another, and technology is at the center of that right now. We saw this as a great impetus to transform our product into a really cool experience.”

Barefoot partnered with entertainment marketing agency FlyteVu to develop the app and campaign in six weeks. Bell said the campaign has drawn around 11 million social impressions since launching three weeks ago.

Bell said the brand determined a Black Eyed Peas partnership was the “perfect fall mashup,” noting the band would bring the ideal level of “excitement and energy” for the program.

The campaign also supports two nonprofits close to the brand and the band: Children of Restaurant Employees, which Barefoot partnered with to provide financial relief to industry workers during the pandemic; and the American Cancer Society, a longtime partner of the Black Eyed Peas after member Taboo was diagnosed with cancer in 2014. Every time a Barefoot label is scanned with the app, a $1 donation will be made, with up to $100,000 donated evenly between the organizations.

Additionally, Band Together is giving fans a chance to win a virtual meet-and-greet with the Black Eyed Peas on the campaign website by sharing their app experience on Twitter and Instagram, using the hashtag #BFTxVIDALOCASweeps and tagging Barefoot.

“Historically, we’ve done a lot of live consumer events,” Bell added. “But this is a time when a lot of folks can’t enjoy entertainment and music in the way they have before. One of our big objectives was to deliver an experience [that fits] with the world we’re living in today.”