Moe’s hotdogs causes school suspension uproar in new campaign via Showpony Adelaide

We’ve all heard the expression, ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade’, well, that’s exactly what Showpony and OTR recently did, but with hotdogs. Turns out they work even better than lemons.

Just to set things up, OTR is South Australia’s largest network of convenience stores, with over 170 locations, and a range of sub-brands, including Moe’s Hotdogs.

When 20 students from the elite Scotch College were suspended for sneaking out of a school camp to stock up on Moe’s hotdogs from a nearby OTR, South Australia’s newspaper, The Advertiser, dedicated a double page spread to reporting the ‘scandal’.

Clearly a slow news day, but the comments section blew up. It seemed that everyone in SA had an opinion about the suspensions, and Scotch College, and school camps, and hotdogs, Moe’s Hotdogs in particular.

Now the conventional comms wisdom in this situation would be to lay low and wait for things to simmer down. Why risk any negative blowback, right? Well that’s not how OTR or Showpony roll.

Instead, Showpony jumped on the unexpected public interest and worked with OTR to create a response that would take the hotdog suspension debate to a whole new level.

Says Sophie Allchurch, managing director, Showpony Adelaide: “An elite private school hotdog suspension scandal? How could we resist? But we had to be quick, to strike while the hot dog was… hot.”

Just one day after the story broke, OTR took out a full-page ad in the Advertiser, directly addressing the students.

Says Rory Kennett-Lister, creative director, Showpony Adelaide: “We empathise with those students. Who hasn’t had a mad case of the midnight munchies, especially as a teen? But OTR’s a big brand – we had to thread the needle and not condone the behaviour either.”

The message – have a free hotdog and shake… but maybe don’t skip out on camp again. To receive the offer, students had to email a copy of their suspension letter, with a promise not to leave camp again.

Admittedly it was a cheeky move but the team at OTR, led by CMO Dewald du Plooy, embraced the opportunity.

And if the response to the initial story was big, the response to the response was even bigger.

The ad was picked up by media across the state, including top rating breakfast show 5AA and Channel 7 News. Local celebrities got in on the story, and the comments piled up.

And in an online world fuelled by outrage, the response generated a huge swell of positive sentiment for OTR.

As one of the suspended students put it in their email to collect the free hotdog, “I just want to say you guys are serious legends.”

Agency — Showpony Adelaide
Managing Director: Sophie Allchurch
Group Creative Director: Parris Mesidis
Creative Director: Rory Kennett-Lister
Associate Creative Director: Abby Moulton
Art Director: Chris Kim
Junior Art Director: Annika Turon-Semmens
Junior Creative: Patrick Cotter
Account Manager: Julia Palumbo

Client — OTR
Dewald du Plooy, Chief Marketing Officer