Hershey Wins Award, Plus Another Crime Story
Congrats to the Hershey Company for winning the 2009 CPG Award for Innovation and Creativity by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), in conjunction with its Associate Member Council (AMC). They picked up this nifty award for their public relations campaign for the launch of their Hershey’s Bliss chocolate. This award goes to companies who have “demonstrated uncommon creativity, innovation and have made a significant contribution to the industry knowledge base”.
I have tried Bliss…it was just OK. I wouldn’t get it again…there’s other bars I like a lot more. The award winning wrapper will be on the web site eventually. Well, Hershey won the award for the launch, the actual bar didn’t win. You could say Hershey used almost a grass roots kinda campaign, using word of mouth, social media (like MySpace, etc), and the like. They also hosted 10,000 Hershey’s Bliss Chocolate parties nationwide. People would enter a contest to win the party that would take place in their home. Party hosts then spread the word as Hershey gave them e-coupons to hand out, and a web site where they could share party photos, stories, and feedback.
And I have to add this, although it has nothing to do with Hershey. You guys know I can’t resist this kind of story. A 41-year-old man was arrested after leaving a Dollar General store in South Carolina. For what? For stuffing 52 packages of snack-sized candy bars down his pants. One worker said she saw a bulge in his wind suit pants (hello!), which he was wearing over his jeans. One pack of the candy bars fell out of his pant leg as he opened the door to leave.
An employee gave chase, retrieving candy bars as they fell out his pant leg. The police were called, he ran some more, and police finally caught him in a laundromat where more candy bars were, uh, retrieved from the suspect. $61 in candy altogether.
My question is, what did the store do with the candy once it was retrieved? Makes me want to stay away from the bargain bins that are “marked for quick sale”. Just where were these items before they made it to the clerance table? Well, maybe the candy was held as evidence.