For Gen Z, spice is more than flavor, it’s a rite of passage. Over half of European Gen Z consume spicy food more than once a week. Spice signifies thrill, resilience, and experimentation. It’s the “hurts so good” sensation that defines an experience.
Yet, when the burn peaks, their instinct isn’t to reach for a sparkling soft drink. Instead, they default to milk or beer, both of which diminish flavor, mute the thrill, and disrupt the mealtime ritual. Sparkling drinks, including Sprite, barely registered as companions.
This cultural blind spot was a commercial opportunity. If Sprite could credibly claim the role of the perfect companion to a spicy meal, it could significantly grow weekly drinkers and reposition itself as an essential mealtime choice.
But Gen Z is skeptical. They don’t take brand claims at face value. Sprite couldn’t simply say it was “the perfect burn balancer.” It needed evidence and cultural theater to prove it.
The brief became clear. First, we needed to provide the proof by scientifically demonstrating that Sprite balances the burn better than water and as effectively as milk. Then, we needed to provide a provocation that would dramatize this truth in a way that Gen Z would find impossible to ignore, turning a functional benefit into cultural conversation.
The Execution: From Lab Science to Multisensory Spectacle
Step 1: Establishing Proof in the “Spice Lab”
We began with controlled experiments on 200 participants to measure the effects of Sprite, milk, still water, and sparkling water on capsaicin-induced oral burn. The results were decisive. Sprite outperformed both still and sparkling water in reducing burn perception, and matched milk in the first 10 seconds of relief, perfectly aligned with the rhythm of eating spicy food.
Crucially, Sprite did not extinguish spice completely. Its lemon-lime effervescence cushioned the sting, then allowed the pleasurable burn to return, keeping mouths alive and refreshed. This “balance” became the foundation of our creative strategy: demonstrating that Sprite refreshes without killing the thrill, allowing spice lovers to ride the heatwave longer.
Step 2: Exploring Crossmodal Science
Working with multisensory scientists, we validated that specific auditory cues (i.e., higher pitches, dissonant harmonies, staccato bursts, gritty distortion) could increase perceived heat while simultaneously amplifying Sprite’s burn-balancing benefit.
To harness this, we collaborated with Grammy-winning composer Ross Garren to design a bespoke “spicy soundscape”: a seven-minute track scientifically calibrated to dial up the sensation of spice while showcasing Sprite’s ability to manage it.
Step 3: Designing the Hot Seats
To bring the science to life in the real world, we commissioned sensory design pioneers Bompas & Parr to create a set of four “Sprite Hot Seats”: the world’s first dining chairs engineered to hack the perception of spice. Each chair combined multiple sensory levers: our bespoke spicy soundscape pulsing through built-in speakers (sound), stimulating textures built into the chair surfaces (touch), immersive lighting and shifting color palettes keyed to spice intensity (sight) and smoky chipotle aromas diffused through smoke that emanated from the chairs during consumption (smell).
Together, these elements created a superadditive multisensory effect, amplifying spice perception while dramatizing Sprite’s unique role as the perfect burn balancer.
Step 4: Launching the Experience
We staged the live activation at Slim Chickens in central London, chosen for its spicy QSR menu and Gen Z-heavy footfall. The event ran for two days, with four bookable Hot Seats available per sitting.
Bookings opened online and sold out within the first hour, driven by targeted amplification: CRM blasts via Slim Chickens’ app and email database (~1.3M reach combined), social pushes across Sprite and partner channels, and strategic previews seeded to influencers to prime curiosity.
Step 5: Amplification Beyond the Event
The experience was designed to scale well beyond the restaurant walls. Four major UK influencers documented their Hot Seats experience across 19 posts, generating 65K+ organic impressions. PR coverage appeared in mainstream outlets including The Verge, Daily Star, and MSN. Our “spicy soundscape” was released globally on SoundCloud, giving fans a way to replicate the sensory hack at home with this “always on” asset.
These steps ensured our campaign’s voice was rooted in provocation, not hype. We avoided claims of “extinguishing fire” and instead framed Sprite as the enabler of spice’s thrill, letting consumers enjoy more of what they love, not less.
The two-day London launch of Sprite Hot Seats sold out within one hour of bookings opening. CRM blasts, owned social, and influencer previews drove demand without paid media investment. And our influencers created a participatory cultural content, giving credibility to the science-led activation.
Owned and partner channels efficiently amplified our message: Sprite IG (89K followers), partner IG handles (~105K combined), Slim Chickens app (580K), and email blasts (750K). The SoundCloud soundscape created an always-on cultural artifact, continuing to earn impressions well beyond the activation.
The campaign generated 598,959,150 earned impressions with zero paid media. Most importantly, Sprite shifted its role in culture, from generic refreshment to the essential spicy meal companion, from a passive beverage to an active burn balancer and from a commodity choice to a conversation driver for Gen Z spice lovers.
Our strategy anchored Sprite to the spicy meal occasion, de-seasonalizing consumption and providing tangible proof of product superiority in an unexpected but credible context. By blending science, spectacle, and shareability, we created “talkability at scale, achieving outsized impact, reframing Sprite’s role in culture as the essential partner for spice lovers, and all on a zero-media budget.
Ultimately, Sprite Hot Seats didn’t just tell Gen Z that Sprite is spice’s perfect wingman. It hacked their senses to make them believe it. By proving Sprite’s burn-balancing properties in the lab and then dramatizing them through a world-first sensory experience, we delivered both credibility and heat for the brand: in the lab, in the restaurant, and in culture.
