Mentos has been encouraging people to connect by sharing the lolly, with a series of social experiment commercials throughout the world. Now, in Australia, the brand has become the device that gets people off devices and into real connections.

The brand has created a limited edition run of special single and multipack rolls that feature Mentos printed with 20 specially designed emoticons. Rather than sharing emojis online, Mentos is encouraging people to put down their smartphones and use emoticon-printed Mentos to make fresh connections.

Supporting the product-led campaign, Mentos Say Hi, which was originally by BBH London, are digital outdoor street furniture panels from JCDecaux, strategically placed in high-traffic commuter stations and product sampling in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The sampling will include photographs of people imitating the emoticons, the images then appearing instantly on surrounding digital panels. The campaign is also running across social media with 30- and 10-second videos on Facebook and Instagram, and 10-second pre-rolls on YouTube.

Samantha Hansen, country manager of Mentos owner, Perfetti Van Melle, commented, “We’ve been talking with consumers for some time now about how Mentos can provide that little help to connect with someone new. The interactive digital panels give people an opportunity build that connection in real time. Looking ahead to 2019, we’ll continue to explore how we use these more conversational channels to build our brand message with consumers.”

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