To create a Christmas campaign that celebrated Cornish heritage and captured attention, we needed a bold and original concept that would resonate with audiences.
Our solution: a Christmas Dinner flavoured scone—both unexpected and true to the brand’s identity. This playful twist on tradition sparked curiosity and debate, driving engagement and media coverage.
We developed a clear brief outlining objectives, target audiences, and competitor activity to ensure our idea connected with consumers and stood out in festive press.
To make our PR stunt a success, we focused on three key elements:
1. Purpose: The product needed to solve a real problem. Our research showed that 40% of people find cooking Christmas dinner stressful. This insight shaped our message, presenting the scone as a quick, hassle-free alternative
2. Tangibility: The product had to be real—something people could taste, react to, and share in person and online. This made it more engaging and appealing to journalists and their audiences.
3. Controversy: To grab attention, we needed a bold idea. Replacing Christmas dinner with a scone was deliberately provocative, sparking discussion and media interest.
The campaign started by sending Christmas Dinner Scone hampers to 10 key journalists. Early coverage in The Guardian and The Telegraph created buzz, while strong reactions on social media sparked more interest.
Two waves of ads supported these goals. The first built curiosity before launch with playful teasers about festive ingredients, sparking guesses and conversation. After the reveal, the second wave embraced the debate—‘jam or gravy?’—to keep people talking.
We also ran targeted ads to maintain interest and drive sales. To reduce risk, we promoted the product alongside existing messaging rather than creating a separate campaign.
Using audience reactions, we presented the scone as fun Christmas content, highlighting MailOnline comments to show the strong opinions it sparked.
After Christmas, we extended the campaign with a lighthearted New Year’s “apology” to Cornish locals, offering discounts and gaining more press coverage while engaging with the community.
