Bagel Bites dips into Twitter debate about how dogs should wear pants

Brief:

Kraft Heinz brand Bagel Bites asked Twitter users to decide "How should a dog wear pants?" as part of its celebration of National Dog Week, which runs Sept. 20-26, per information emailed to Mobile Marketer. It has received more than 73,000 votes as of press time.
Bagel Bites revealed that it would sell two-legged and four-legged versions of the pants on a microsite starting Sept. 23. Only 60 pairs of the $19.95 dog pants were available, and they sold out within a day.
The Twitter vote was part of brand's "Pizza on a Bagel — We Can All Agree With That" campaign launched last month that taps into light-hearted pop cultural debates at a time of increased polarization. Bagel Bites worked with Johannes Leonardo, ICF Next, VMLY&R New York and Starcom Media on the Twitter campaign, per its email.

Insight:

Bagel Bites saw solid results for its Twitter vote, considering that fewer than 10,000 people follow its account on the social network, showing how brands can engage consumers with online polls and extend their reach as people share posts with friends and followers. The effort was part of the first major advertising campaign in almost two decades for Bagel Bites, and extended its theme of polarizing debates that characterize many discussions on social media.

The publicity surrounding National Dog Week was an opportunity to engage Twitter users in the debate over dog pants, which Bagel Bites first featured in one of its four 15-second spots released last month. One of the spots shows two cartoon dogs arguing over their dog pants styles before agreeing they like eating pizza on a bagel. Other spots have questions like, "Are unicorns or ponies better?" Bagel Bites is running the creative on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Snapchat, TV, online video and out-of-home channels.

The campaign also underscores the importance of social listening efforts to gain consumer insights. Starting last year, Bagel Bites had studied online conversations, including debates about how to hang toilet paper rolls or whether people prefer boxers versus briefs. The humorous tone of the campaign is a sign that brands are returning to more traditional themes after the pandemic had led many advertisers to cancel, delay or revamp their creative to match the public mood, which quickly tired of the same-old pandemic-related ads.