Home Bun

When the Major League Baseball season is in full swing, dedicated fans pay close attention to every aspect of the ballpark experience. They tend to crave the typical stadium snack: a classic hot dog, which is a must-have staple of the game-day environment. Fact is, hot dogs have long been considered synonymous with baseball.

In response, QuikTrip, in partnership with its creative and media agency of record, Laughlin Constable, developed a new activation, “Home Bun,” that goes hand in hand with the love that baseball fans have for the iconic ballpark hot dogs.

A first of its kind in Major League Baseball, this unique activation is executed with the help of an oversized, nearly 10-foot-long, QuikTrip-branded, inflatable hot dog and bun. The two separate parts of the hot dog—the bun and the hot dog itself—start on opposite sides of the stadium—at the left and right field foul poles—and fans must work together to bounce the inflatables through the crowd, bringing the two parts together to create the iconic QuikTrip hot dog. If the task is completed within the time allotted, fans receive a free hot dog coupon they can redeem in stores.

The creative work integrates QuikTrip as a part of the between-inning “games” that fans have grown to expect when they visit a Major League Baseball park for a game, while also driving the brands in-store traffic. Loyal customers of QuikTrip tend to say the brand ‘feels like home,’ so the team chose to keep this activation surrounded around that key sentiment. The strategy was developed to drive potential new customers into stores both before and after the games by rewarding ballpark visitors with a chance to win free food.

The activation has been running for 8 games and has been seen at both the Cardinals stadium in St. Louis, and the Royals stadium in Kansas City.

The activation has garnered over 230 million views, and over 5 million social engagements - without any paid media support - making this the most successful social activation QuikTrip has ever done. The Home Bun has been featured by a segment on The Today Show, ESPN’s SportsCenter, MLB, and a slew of sports-centric social creators.

So far, all the press coverage has generated more than $8.5M in earned media value for the brand.