Any event can be instantly improved with a good snack. But what’s one to do when snacks are not allowed?
Instacart has a potential solution: turn your event wear into a secret carrier and just sneak the tasty treats in.
In an effort to break some rules and inspire snacking wherever you are, Instacart took to the red carpet during MTV’s VMAs with actress and comedian Chloe Fineman dressed in “Cart Couture.” Made to hack the event’s “no outside food” policy, the dress incorporates da variety of snack textures, like rock candy, gum balls and gummy bears. Designers threeASFOUR also added a pop of orange as a nod to the Instacart brand.
For an added touch of branded style, Fineman wore carrot-shaped charms on her nails to match Instacart’s logo.
It’s About Snack Time
The stunt, created in partnership with creative agency Droga5, is also part of the brand’s larger campaign involving its newest spot, “The World is Your Cart” featuring Lizzo. The one-minute spot, “The World is Your Cart” features the “About Damn Time” performer ordering her favorite things that ultimately become life-size grocery items.
The outrageous-looking dress and the creative life-size spot was all made to drive the brand’s mission to deliver anywhere.
“As we were creating Instacart’s most extensive and inspirational creative work with Droga5 … we wanted to put a stake in the ground and find the perfect, cultural launch moment,” Laura Jones, CMO at Instacart, told Adweek. “We knew we needed a moment that could drive the conversation and put us front and center of the zeitgeist – the VMAs achieved all of that for us.”
Jones also hopes that these moments speak to the brand’s unique approach to partnerships: “We’re not a brand that just puts a logo on a partnership; our team believes in the power of creativity and aims to push the boundaries. At the VMAs, we took a risk and did something no other company has done before in a way that no one could have imagined – a ‘Cart Couture’ dress worn by an SNL actress. It was exactly the creative moment we wanted.”
Best dressed? Or best life hack?
In more recent years, brands like Geico and Hotels.com have turned to hacks for their creative approaches. Similarly, “Cart Couture” aligns with the lifehack trend that has long swept social and content creation.
Add the social buzz fuel that is red carpet fashion, and you have an ideal marketing moment tailored for engaged award show audiences.
“With the brand campaign debuting during the VMAs this year, it made perfect sense to target the show to continue the buzz in real-time on social,” Maria Lee, creative director at Droga5 told Adweek. “Fans can’t get enough of who wore what and the drama that unfolds on the red carpet, often making memes out of them. So finding a way for Instacart to infiltrate this conversation was key for us. Couture but playful, unexpected, weird and mischievous since we’re breaking the rule was the brief we gave ourselves. How do we create a look that embodies the idea of a cart that’s designed to hold and deliver snacks in a surprising way?”
You can find the “The World is Your Cart” spot on the brand’s Youtube channel and socials.
