Launching the newest Apple through banned pears, in reaction to the Russian import ban on Belgian fruit. Eat that Vladimir Putin.

In 2014, like all other telco providers, Telenet launched the long awaited iPhone 6. The brand was looking for a large scale media campaign that highlighted their promo deal of the iPhone within the market. Amidst the arrival of the iPhone 6, the Russian import ban on European fruit was put into place. A ban of particular concern to Belgian farmers, as Russia anually buys 50% of all Belgian pears. We decided to launch the newest apple... through tons of pears, turning banned fruit into a mass medium. Instead of putting our money in print ads, billboards and TV commercials, we bought and distributed 200.000 Belgian, directly from the farmers. We labeled each of them with a sticker, containing a code that might turn the pear into a free new iPhone 6. The campaign caused an immediate sell-out. Both for Telenet's iPhones and Belgian pears. People from all over Belgium started to talk about the campaign on social media, while pre-orders of the new iPhone at Telenet grew with the minute. 34.980 codes were registered, resulting in a redemption rate of 29,15% and huge traffic to Telenet stores.

Client: Apple & Telenet Agency: Wunderman Thompson Antwerp Concept: Gertjan De Smet Production: Wunderman Thompson Antwerp Design: Gertjan De Smet