Butterfinger’s ‘Get In Our Corner’ aims to rally Pacquiao fans with an athlete endorser campaign built around celebrating ‘a different kind of competitor’ and using the Pacquiao vs Mayweather fight as a simile for the consumer choice between Butterfinger cups and rival Reese’s Cups (indirectly referred to as ‘Plain Cups’ throughout the initiative).
This comic campaign for the big fight began early on 1 April launch phase that began with a Butterfinger press release offer a ‘One Million Payout’ if Pacquiao wins.
This hefty brand bet, it turned out, is not for $1m but for one million peanut butter cups.
The company promised that if its brand ambassador Pacquiao emerged victorious on 1 May that it would give away a million of its peanut butter cups in a nationwide payout run through www.ButterfingerCups.com.
The offer mechanic was that the brand promised to give away 500,000 e-coupons – each good for one two-piece package of the peanut butter cups – through its website on 5 May (between 6am and 6pm – while stocks last.)
‘I never cut corners, and that is what makes Butterfinger Cups the best peanut butter cup – they don’t cut corners either,’ said Pacquiao in the campaign.
‘Butterfinger and I always go the extra mile to distinguish ourselves. For us, being different is the difference.’
Thus, the April Fool’s Day launch phase set the tone for the ongoing spoof-style campaign – one that played on the athlete’s famous sense of humour and willingness to mock himself.
The announcement kicked off a month-long ‘Get In Our Corner’ campaign built around the big fight.
‘We’re such fans of what Manny represents and love that he has such a great sense of humor to join us in our April Fools’ Day fun and launch the Get In Our Corner campaign,’ explained Butterfingers brand manager Fabiola del Rio.
‘We want fans to get in our corner with Manny and help us celebrate this different kind of competitor.’
Butterfinger then continued its campaign during the fight build-up with activation running primarily on its own social media channels.
This social creative featured images of the product and of Pacquiao and various bpoxing related graphics all using the campaign hashtag #GetInOurCorner.
The premise of this phase is that the fighter was training to ‘help Butterfinger Cups’ go up against the ‘plain cups’ (specifically, but not overtly mentioned, it is aimed at rival product Reese’s).
As the fight drew closer, the brand added a further digital strand in the form of offering its website and social media followers a free digital version of an exclusive, brand-commissioned ‘Commemorative Pacquiao Portrait’.
The digital graphic, created by award-winning artist/director Warren Fu, was made available to the first 25,000 fans who download it at
RT Underdogs unite! Get my commemorative @MannyPacquiao artwork here: http://t.co/vK5y1ODJ3F #GetInOurCorner #MayPac pic.twitter.com/NpILeVoGcX — Manny Pacquiao (@MannyPacquiao) May 1, 2015 Click to download this ltd-edition graphic of @MannyPacquiao by @warrenjfu: http://t.co/BQWh0N3ijS #GetInOurCorner pic.twitter.com/6QayP8CX1W — Butterfinger (@Butterfinger) April 24, 2015 The brand reported that Pacquiao himself had requested that the original 30″ x 30 acrylic painting would ultimately be displayed in his home. This digital portrait was one of thee several ‘surprises’ Butterfinger offered during the campaign. Another of these surprises saw Pacquiao carefully unwrap and eat a Butterfinger live on stage at the big fight weigh-in. Again, this real-time stunt was promoted on the brand’s social channels – such as Twitter Getting a preview of the sweet taste of victory with @Butterfinger Cups #GetInOurCorner #MayPacWeighIn pic.twitter.com/1Wq0NLYPrX — Manny Pacquiao (@MannyPacquiao) May 2, 2015 Selfie before weigh-in. #MayPac pic.twitter.com/qco7A4V7UR — Manny Pacquiao (@MannyPacquiao) May 1, 2015 Indeed, the brand’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/butterfinger ) and Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/Butterfinger) continued the campaign pre-, in- and post-fight with Manny fan photos, branded graphics and messages of support. Get ready for some signature moves from the one and only @MannyPacquiao #GetInOurCorner #MayPac pic.twitter.com/NoVt34kyOS — Butterfinger (@Butterfinger) May 3, 2015 Gettin’ SWOLE for our fight against plain. RT to #GetInOurCorner w/ @MannyPacquiao pic.twitter.com/IM715cxfOQ — Butterfinger (@Butterfinger) April 24, 2015 No pain, no gain. @MannyPacquiao is pumping Butterfinger Cups up as we train to go up against plain. #GetInOurCorner pic.twitter.com/celhG9qXCY — Butterfinger (@Butterfinger) April 14, 2015 Finishing with a post-fight tweet of support in defeat. We'll always be in your corner @MannyPacquiao #MayPac — Butterfinger (@Butterfinger) May 3, 2015 The brand’s website (http://www.butterfingercups.com/getinourcorner) also site includes a set of tangentially related videos, such as: ‘Champions Have A Little Extra’, ‘Score’, and ‘Game Winner’. Comment Butterfinger Cups, reportedly one of the most successful product launches in Nestle history, used the fight and its endorsement deal to solidify its position and take on its major competitor. Square-shaped (like a boxing ring), Butterfinger Cups only debuted last year and the Nestle only recently added the Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups Minis extension. This is a classic boxing activation approach – boxing, perhaps more simply and directly than any other sport, pits one man directly against another. And thus it can be an effective property to build direct competitor rivalry campaigns around. This is exactly what Butterfinger aimed to do as it went head-to-head with established market leader Reese’s (referred to as ‘Plain Cups’). It positioned itself, like Pacquiao, as the underdog. The messages were about it being a ‘different kind of cup’ (like Pacquiao is a ‘different kind of fighter’). The tone aimed to establish that both thee brandd and the boxer shared appreciation for having fun and living a life that’s not just plain Thus trying to ensure that the boxer and the brand were a ‘perfect match’. Links Butterfinger Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/butterfinger Butterfinger Twitter: https://twitter.com/Butterfinger #GetInOurCorner Butterfinger Website
