For Real For Real

Yes. We really did this.
We stayed faithful to the concept and everything was real.
The agency employee, Lee, slept on dirt. He ate grubs. And bugs and weeds.
He starved out there — and only when he was facing extreme dehydration and possibly heat stroke did he break the "rules" by having water and a banana that he didn't find, catch, or trade for. His dedication made Living Off The Brands.

Story Time!

It was slow at work. Really slow. And I hate sitting around doing nothing, so I started asking around about things I could work on. My Creative Director’s response: "I don't know. Why don't you think about something cool the agency could post on Instagram?"

A few days later, I came to him with this idea and soon,
we were looking around the agency, trying to figure out:

1. Who would do it

2. Who doesn’t know much about the great outdoors

3. Who would be funny on camera

Enter Lee Kimball, a fellow copywriter and the perfect candidate.
His voice and on-screen antics meant everything to the success of the campaign.

The Film

Released a few weeks after the stunt, we interviewed Lee about the experience and scoured through the footage to create a comprehensive mini-documentary to show how he ate, slept, and survived (not to mention, hear what he was thinking and feeling during the experience).

The film also become a top-trending article on Adweek for a few days.

Zero Dollars. Infinity+1 Impressions.

We had no money. Like didn’t even boost the Instagram posts type of no money.
The only cost was agency overhead — the time employees spent working and planning on the project + the food and gas for the one week where everyone lived in the woods.

Despite the challenges, we gained +20 million impressions, saw a +50% increase in social media followers, and a +750% increase in site traffic. The press was insane. In addition to AdAge, AdWeek and the usual suspects, it even garnered some international attention.  

Most importantly, the self-promotional stunt led to two immediate RFPs and a new client.