The first week of July is always busy for us at Switch. The agency supports several of the Independence Day festivities for Fair Saint Louis – there were several experiential projects that needed to be designed, constructed and transported. Of those projects, one stood out as particularly unconventional – and working on it was a challenge, a privilege and a good time, all rolled into one.
Switch designed and constructed a supersized cereal box for Post Cereal’s Honey Bunches of Oats. Boasting a whopping 20 feet tall, 14 feet wide, and 4 feet long, the colossal box captured the attention of thousands at one of the nation’s largest birthday parties. And it is being considered for the title of Largest Cereal Box by Guinness World Records’ judicators.
Scaling, building and printing
Switch started the project by looking at fabrication and printing, where team members collaborated to determine how to proportionately scale the box up to the right amount. To be considered for the world record, the box had to be primarily constructed of the same material as a real box. The Switch experts in our fabrication studio found a honeycomb cardboard that they reinforced with a plywood frame.
True to the Post brand, the design of the mega-box was exactly the same as the design printed on normal-sized cereal boxes – with a couple of exceptions. The box’s weight was scaled to depict the mass of a cereal box that size – an incredible 172,139.65 ounces. And the number of servings was recalculated to 162,670!
The graphics were printed on an adhesive-backed vinyl material… essentially a big sticker, the same material used for vehicle wraps. They were adhered to large panels. The prints were also laminated to protect the box from the elements and to make the installation process a bit more efficient. The prints were lined up perfectly and bonded to the thick cardboard with the help of a lift and a squeegee. And the finished design was flawless: a perfect replica of a standard Honey Bunches of Oats box.
Once the overall structure had been tested, it was dissembled for transport. It was driven to the fairgrounds, where the team rebuilt the box and used taut rope and stakes to sufficiently secure the structure.
Major holidays present unique opportunities for experiential marketing initiatives. Brands can showcase or sample a product while reaching diverse audiences. In this case, Honey Bunches of Oats leveraged the upbeat spirit of Fair Saint Louis and its 250,000 visitors to introduce a familiar product in a surprising new way. Aiming to break world records for the largest cereal box and the largest cereal breakfast, 550 standard Honey Bunches of Oats packages were added to the colossal box – matching just 5% of the potential volume. Be sure to visit Guinnessworldrecords.com for updates as the panel reviews Post Cereal’s submissions.
To learn how your brand can make a lasting impression like this one, contact switch@theswitch.us.
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