Don’t demonize candy on Halloween–celebrate it. For an oral-care brand like Crest + Oral B, it was a bold stance. And this campaign that tricked kids into trying healthy treats and filmed their reactions was even bolder.

The centerpiece of an integrated effort, “Halloween Treats Gone Wrong” earned many accolades: Webbys, Shortys, Effies, Cannes Short lists, Adweek’s 2013 “Story of the Year,” as well as being featured on Fox, CNBC, the Today show, AOL, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Gawker, the L.A. Times and The Guardian. But the best honor we achieved was generating a 3% sales lift on a 2 billion dollar piece of business in just two weeks. (With a paid to earn ratio of 1 to 9.) Sweet indeed.

Various social posts helped built buzz:

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And here’s a wee sampling of some of the press the campaign received:

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Detail of being #1 story of 2013:

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In the product innovation category, we even created limited edition promotional items called”Oral-B Pops,” a combination of toothbrushes and candy, and sent them as keepsakes to influencers and others in the media.

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