In 2022, HelloFresh spread cheer like never before with the launch of the limited-edition Buddy the Elf™ Spaghetti meal kits, inspired by the dish featured in the beloved holiday film.
Building upon the framework set the previous year, HelloFresh tapped into the buzz surrounding the film’s 20th anniversary and brought back the highly-coveted sweet spaghetti meal kit along with fun collectible items.
HelloFresh set out to repeat 2022's success—breaking through the crowded holiday season and generating feature media coverage, as well as increasing relevance and brand affinity among consumers. The brand also aimed to delight and excite customers with new and fun additions to the kit for them and their families to experience.
The 2023 campaign featured two main elements. First: the return of the Buddy the Elf™ Spaghetti Meal Kits. (no HelloFresh subscription required for purchase.) These limited-edition, specially-designed holiday kits featured all of the pre-portioned ingredients to make the famous candy-topped, syrupy spaghetti. The 2023 version also featured festive, collectible items including portioned plates with designations for the four main elf food groups designed to delight Elf fanatics.
The second piece was brand new for 2023—“Buddy the Elf™’s Jolly Eats”: Seasonal Elf-Themed Recipes—A two-week recipe series inspired by memorable scenes from Elf, available exclusively to HelloFresh customers. Recipes included festive options like Gimbel’s Santa Cheeseburgers and World’s Best Cup of Coffee (Cake) Brunch.
To deliver this delightful holiday treat, the HelloFresh PR team partnered with the HelloFresh culinary team and Warner Bros. Consumer Products team to develop recipes that stayed true to the film, while still tasting good. Given the timing and HelloFresh business model, the PR team had to work outside of usual operations and utilize a 3rd party vendor to design a co-branded Elf and HelloFresh box so the consumer experience felt truly special for the holiday season.
The limited-edition meal kits sold out in under 2 minutes each day orders were open.
Media coverage surrounding this program resulted in the highest amount of earned coverage HelloFresh has ever received for a campaign, with 870+ total stories, garnering more than 1B media impressions.
The campaign creative drove over 500K unique engagements across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and social media efforts reached over 25MM people with over 50K hours of video content watched.
