Kraft Dinner pop-up shop accepts "fun" as currency

Consumers will be juggling their way to wacky Kraft Dinner swag as part of a new campaign for the brand. KD is launching pop-up shops where people can do fun challenges like juggle Kraft Dinner boxes, perform a rap song about KD or show off their dance moves in exchange for products like noodle socks, “KD funderpants” and T-shirts. The “KD Fun Index” survey conducted by Google Consumer Surveys found that at any given time, only one in five Canadians is having fun. “It’s all about encouraging Canadians to embrace the fun in their lives and the fun of eating KD,” said Kristen Eyre, brand director, Kraft Dinner at Kraft Canada. “This is also an effort to get into a more emotional space and make meaningful connections with consumers.” The three-day KD Fun Shops will open in Toronto on July 16, Montreal on July 23 and Vancouver on July 30. KD is also launching KD Fun Kiosks in each of those cities. The roving kiosks will set up shop outside of traditionally “unfun” places like transit stops and dry cleaners, allowing people to buy their actual goods and services with fun. For example, if a consumer wants to do a fun challenge, Kraft will pay for their subway ride. “It’s not enough to tell consumers to go out and have some fun,” said Eyre. “We also want to create experiences that enable them to do so.” The campaign is part of KD’s new platform that encourages Canadians to have fun. A commercial that launched in March features a talking horse that prompts people to “let their fun out.” In June, the brand launched the KD Fun Shop on its Facebook page, allowing consumers to play fun games to win KD swag. “Now we’re leveraging earned media to amplify the experiential portion of the program,” said Eyre. “There’s a great story here about why Canadians need more fun and how we’re helping them to do that. PR is just a great way to get the word out and amplify the experience and the content that happens in the fun shops.” This article originally appeared in Marketing magazine.