Dolmio + Clemenger BBDO Sydney bring Pepper Hacker to life so families can reclaim dinnertime
Last year Dolmio, via agency Clemenger BBDO Sydney, captured the attention of frustrated parents worldwide with the unveiling of the ‘Pepper-Hacker’ – a pepper cracker that not only cracked pepper but also shut down TVs, wiped out WiFi and disabled mobile devices.
With 100 million views across Facebook and YouTube, the film sparked worldwide conversation around the problem that technology is disrupting family dinnertimes.
Soon after the film was released Dolmio was inundated with a flood of requests from frustrated parents everywhere to make the Pepper Hacker available, desperate for an ally in the battle to reclaim dinnertime from technology.
Says Tim Hicks, marketing director, Mars Food Australia: “We listened to our customers, and decided that we simply had to create the Pepper-Hacker en masse. Sitting around a table and connecting over food is one of the most beneficial times of the day, helping families catch-up, have fun, and really connect. The Pepper Hacker reminds us of the influence technology has over us and how we can all benefit from a little down time from it.”
By developing custom software and bespoke hardware to house the Wi-Fi-disabling technology within a functioning pepper grinder, Dolmio and Clemenger BBDO Sydney are producing over 3,500 fully-functioning Pepper Hackers for consumers to get their hands on as part of a national on-pack giveaway. Once they roll off the assembly line, each Pepper Hacker will be covertly disguised in unassuming packaging before making its way to the tables of lucky winners.
Says Paul Nagy, executive creative director, Clemenger BBDO Sydney: “It seemed the whole of Australia (and half the world) wanted a Pepper Hacker of their own after they saw the film last year… To see them coming to life this year at scale is something we’re very proud of indeed.”
By simply connecting to a home Wi-Fi network, one click of the Dolmio Pepper Hacker can disable the internet connection of up to four unsuspecting family members for 30 minutes – the perfect amount of time to connect over a shared spaghetti bolognese.
Says Brendan Forster, head of creative technology, Clemenger BBDO Sydney: “The new Pepper Hacker will be a great tool for families to help bring to life the fact that when you disconnect you connect. By integrating it with home Wi-Fi systems we have created a technical solution that any home can use to get 30 minutes time back from the mobile devices that dominate our lives.”
Collaborating for the global element of the campaign, AMV BBDO (UK) partnering with Clemenger BBDO Sydney created the campaign’s online film ‘Look Up’, a social experiment that proves just how distracting technology is when it comes to meal times. Directed by Paul Middleditch of Plaza Films, Dolmio secretly filmed tech-distracted family members and changed elements of the world around them without them noticing, proving just how much they miss out on when they have their faces buried in their phones and tablets.
Led by Clemenger BBDO Sydney the new Dolmio Pepper Hacker 2.0 campaign involved MediaCom Sydney, Ogilvy PR and Starcom with the film shot by Paul Middleditch from Plaza Films.
Pepper Hacker: Clemenger BBDO Sydney
Executive Creative Director: Paul Nagy
Creative Directors: Ben Smith and Luke Hawkins
Creatives: Jack Delmonte and Hadleigh Sinclair (Pepper Hacker concept)
Senior Art Director: Dan Walton (Packaging, Social, Website)
Copywriters: Adam Smith and Nick Alcock (packaging, website)
Head of Craft: Daniel Mortensen
Senior Designer: Claire Sutton (Packaging)
Head of Creative Technology: Brendan Forster
Senior Digital Producer: Joshua Speight
Senior Finished Artist: Anna Ballard
Digital Designers: Ivan So, Sebastian Perez de Arce, Marissa Karolyi
Developer: Dale Emrose
Managing Director: Emily Perrett
Group Account Director: Madeline Marsh
Senior Account Director: Matty Graham
Senior Account Director: Lena Galbraith
Senior Account Director: Emily Taylor
Account Manager: Katie Scrutton
Account Coordinator Brooklyn Andrews
Head of Planning: Kit Lansdell
Dolmio ‘Look Up’ Experiment: AMV BBDO & Clemenger BBDO
Creative Directors: Dave Buchanan, Ben Smith, Luke Hawkins
Copywriter: Caio Gianella
Art Director: Diego de Oliveira
Agency Planner: John McDonald
Agency Account Mgmt: James Drummond, Jonny White, Stephen Adams, Matty Graham, Katie Scrutton
Agency Producer: Cleo Hodgkinson
Media Agency: Mediacom
Media Planner: Matt Delaney
Production Company: Plaza Films
Director: Paul Middleditch
Executive Producer: Paul Masterton
Post: Unit Media
Sound: Unit Media
Pepper Hacker Production Partners
Product Design: D+I (Design+Industry)
Technical Solutions: The LX Group
Client: Mars
Global Brand Director, Mars Food: Richard Stear
Marketing Director, Mars Food Australia: Tim Hicks
Marketing Director Food, Mars UK: Chris Wragg
Marketing Manager Dolmio, Mars UK: Ian Nundy
Marketing Manager, Mars Food Australia: Shelley Crowe
Brand Manager, Mars Food Australia: Lauren Dragicevich
Media Agency: MediaCom
Buying Agency: Starcom
PR: Ogilvy PR
33 Comments
Every kid or teen with a smartphone (I.e. Nearly all of them) will just have to use their phones instead? Or their phones will switch straight to data and they won’t even notice the difference.
Like the idea – but how do Clems get away with having Masterfoods & Campbells on their roster??
What a useless idea and complete waste of money trying to control people’s lives.
I suggest Clemenger BBDO Sydney and JWT Sydney (For OMOs Peggy) collectively take a long hard look at how together they are developing technology for no reason.
To give people back their time and connect over dinner or in Peggy’s case wet clothes. Fuck me.
Seriously guys, what a waste of thousands of hours, late nights and loads of cash for nothing.
Embarrassing for our industry.
Yeah, stupid kids addicted to technology that THEIR PARENTS GAVE TO THEM!! How about just being a good parent and raising with them with good values, eh? Still, kudos for getting lots of money spent on getting this made.
or parents could grow some balls and just refuse to serve kids that use their phone at the table – comon these are all kids 10 years and under. They’re not whiny teenagers.
Does this ‘problem’ really require such a gimmick investment in technology which can easily be worked around – how do you stop falling back to network from wifi?
do what you should have done before presenting this and google beer bottle etc that blocks wi-fi, mobile etc
I’m a younger person who has grown up with tech all my life. All my parents had to do was say no phones/gadgets at the table and we listened. How hard could it be?
Are people really that absorbed into technology that they can’t put it down for half an hour for a meal? It’s sad that this is “needed” by people, what happened to good parenting?
Hmmm, buy an expensive, complicated pepper device that switches off wifi in my house or pull out the wooden spoon and force kids to enjoy mealtime like they did in the old days?
Wooden spoon thanks.
This is a pathetic indictment on our society.
people..!
you are missing the point, they are advertising a brand not changing human behaviour.
who gives a flying f*** about its actual purpose, if it sells more dolmio then its done its job
When the film launched, it intimated it already existed. Is this an admission of scam?
Parents should be implementing mealtime values from the start. I won’t be using a device to tell my children what they should be doing already. The problem lies with the parents. It’s Tech for Tech sake for me.
Everyone…it’s for the award categories they couldn’t enter it in last time – take a chill pill dudes!
My wifi plugs into the wall. When I want to switch it off, I switch it off.
Create a video that gets 100 million views, people buying Dolmio and hounding the company to make the product, and you keyboard warriors call scam.
Create the actual product, (that millions of people have demanded be made) and you keyboard warriors say there’s no use for it…
LOLs why you so mad?
Xoxo
Porky Chan
I would grind your peppers any day.
ROY
Was shit when it was fake. And it’s shit now it’s real.
Made anything decent lately Clems Sydney?
how much does the senior art director (packaging) gets paid for a 5 minutes ikea packaging rip off? This is crap, but Clems did so WOW hats off…to me it’s still bullshit
If this got done in NZ by a NZ agency. Every other agency would be “Fuck yeah, you bastards, wish we did that. Tu Meke”
Because it’s advertising and it’s a joke. And shouldn’t be taken too serious.
Here, it’s crazy toxic. Everyone bags everything.
Nice work Clems. This was cool.
This is the most comments I’ve seen on this blog for a while. Well done Clemenger.
No. Not at all. its still a useless idea full of holes.
Clearly not many of you have teenaged kids.
Did anyone stop to think that the sort of parent that cares about their kids not being on their phones at the table is probably also the sort of parent that reads the labels of processed junk sauce and realizes it’s full of sugar so makes something else instead?
Run some really good posters in the Western suburbs instead guys…
It’s probably selling more Dolmio… enough said.
Well done Clems.
Shit idea, shit art direction and a waste of time. It will help sell 0.01% more shit sauce. A sure fire Gold in the Mobius Awards though. So well done.
Lols. “Run some really good posters in the Western suburbs instead guys.” Yeah guys, next time you think about using some sort of clever tech to create hype and engagement around a brand. Don’t. Just do some nice posters out west. OK. Classic.
Can you please point out the clever piece of tech that has created hype and engagement around the brand? And no, CB doesn’t count.
So Tim, shouldn’t your delicious sauce be enough to get the family to drop their tech and get stuck in? What’s next – armed guards to force them to eat it?
I count 25 people at Clemms Sydney in those credits. That’s TWENTY FIVE people, people! Including THREE Senior Account Directors. Just let that sink in…
Sure, after you’ve finished cooking up some killer insights for those posters. Punch in “Dolmio Pepper Hacker” Into your Google Machine. Happy Reading : )
@NZ Ad World Vs Aus Ad World
Agree 100%. We hate on things too much here, and it’s not just the creatives; planners, suits, clients, nobody has any respect for good work anymore. Creatives cop it all day in meetings then vent on their internet machines.
In fact, I’d also argue not many people in Australia know what good work is, we’ve had our confidence battered and beaten down by so many fuckwits day-in, day-out.
Now about the concept.
I like the tech. I like the buzz it’s getting. But here’s the flaw for me.
If the sauce was that good, you wouldn’t need a pepper hacker to get kids to the table. The sauce would do that already.
NOT to be a negative whining suity planner prick. And not to take away from the idea, fuck it, you have to do something to get people’s attention and well done for doing that. But creatively, there’s a bit of a logic flaw for me.
Similar idea was done in 2014… for beer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN7Fg0LWZsI
But good work none the less
Client will be stoked with the results, and that’s all that matters.
@Crock of shit –
“It will help sell 0.01% more shit sauce”
Read:
http://www.adnews.com.au/news/dolmio-cracks-it-pepper-hacker-drives-11-sales-boost
11% actually.
…no credit? :p congrats guys on getting making it happen