Krispy Kreme Utilizes Its Doughnut Holes To Light Up People’s Gloomy Days
Life is a box of doughnuts, or however the saying goes.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a real problem in the UK. With only a tiny glimmer of sunlight available in the winter, many Brits have been feeling down—and even depressed—from the sharp and gloomy atmosphere. Research suggests that one in five locals enjoy 15 minutes, tops, of the sun’s rays during the colder months.
Krispy Kreme wants to come full circle as the bringer of joy. With the help of PR agency Good Relations, media planning firm VCCP, out-of-home media specialist Open Outdoor, and Clear Channel, the chain has installed a billboard in the form of a giant box of doughnuts to cheer bystanders up. The surprise filling in these generously-sized treats? Mood-boosting light therapy.
At a touch of a button, passersby can get a rush of the box’s illuminating, healing qualities from the colorful, oversized replicas of Krispy Kreme’s new 195-calorie range. The advertisement was set up in Salford, England, where residents only had two hours of daylight per day in January.
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The activation arrived just in time for Blue Monday on January 16, regarded by some as the “most depressing” day of the year as the holiday season had just passed, and people were expecting a stack of credit card bills while enduring long, cold nights.
Emma Colquhoun, chief marketing officer UK and Ireland at Krispy Kreme, explains that the billboard is “the only doughnut box in the world to deliver light therapy” and alleviate symptoms of seasonal affective disorder. Colquhoun likens the burst of joy from the much-needed light to “opening a box of doughnuts.”
[via The Drum and Marketing Beat, video and cover image via Krispy Kreme UK]
