Turning Controversy into Success: Here’s how this campaign made something “wrong” feel right!

From the desk of Miles Everson: Happy Thursday! I'm excited to bring you another example of a remarkable guerrilla marketing campaign. If you're not familiar, guerrilla marketing is an unconventional approach that’s easy to appreciate, simple to implement, and cost-effective. I love how this strategy empowers marketers to come up with fresh and engaging ideas to captivate their target audience. Continue reading below to discover how this brand generated buzz in New Zealand!

Turning Controversy into Success: Here’s how this campaign made something “wrong” feel right! Vegetarian pizza? Meaty sauce? Or… both? In a daring twist, this brand reinvented the classic Kiwi steak and cheese pie into a mouthwatering vegetarian pizza. This bold move not only took everyone by surprise but also challenged the meat lovers to step out of their comfort zones and try something new. Anticipating outrage, the brand prepared a meaty sauce as a peace offering—only to provoke the vegetarians instead. Dramatic and controversial? Absolutely! But that’s exactly the kind of audacity you’d expect from Hell Pizza! Hell Pizza, a New Zealand-based pizza chain, has built its brand on being anything but ordinary. Known for its audacious themes and use of bold advertising tactics, this restaurant has always pushed the boundaries of what a pizza company can be. In 2022, Hell Pizza turned heads with its “So wrong, but so right” campaign, a bold move that went far beyond simply launching a limited-edition pizza. In partnership with Special Wellington and Special PR, the campaign took a beloved classic—the Kiwi steak and cheese pie—and transformed it into a pizza. But there was a twist: the meat used wasn’t real meat at all! Considering the circumstances, the campaign couldn’t have come at a better time. As dietary preferences were shifting and plant-based options were gaining traction, Hell Pizza saw this as an opportunity to make a powerful statement. The pizza chain aimed to promote sustainable food production by replacing traditional meat with a plant-based alternative. The result? A dish that was “so wrong” because it wasn’t real meat, yet “so right” because it tasted just like it! To pull off this daring campaign, Hell Pizza knew that merely swapping out meat wouldn’t be enough to spark widespread interest. So, to draw in even the most devoted meat-lovers, the pizza chain introduced a provocative twist: a “toMEATo” sauce made with animal blood, served in a blood bag. This audacious move ensured that the campaign didn’t just make headlines as it also ignited conversations and drew people to try the plant-based dish for themselves. Hell Pizza spread the news to different media and radio outlets across New Zealand. Social channels buzzed with excitement as dozens of influencers received PR packages containing the limited-edition vegetarian pizza and “toMEATo” sauce. This stunt definitely led to some consumers’ blood boiling. Meat-eaters were disappointed with the “fake meat,” while vegetarians were enraged by the blood sauce—which, by the way, only contains 0.5ml of blood. Despite the outrage, the “So wrong, but so right” campaign turned out to be a resounding success. Gaining 2.4 million engagements in social media, the guerrilla marketing campaign enabled Hell Pizza to sell over 6,000 blood bags in just three weeks. Also, more than half of the customers who bought the pizza were meat eaters, and almost half of them said that they would swap meat with plant-based options in the future. The campaign’s impact didn’t go unnoticed as it was shortlisted in the Effectiveness category of the 2023 WARC Awards. — The “So wrong, but so right” guerrilla marketing campaign was a masterclass in captivating an audience and driving engagement through bold, innovative strategies. By challenging norms and embracing the unconventional ways of advertising, Hell Pizza proved that when it comes to guerrilla marketing, sometimes being “wrong” can be right! Let this campaign serve as a reminder of the endless possibilities when brands dare to challenge conventions and push boundaries. 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