Werther’s is bringing a life-sized Candy Land game board to the Santa Monica Pier for National Caramel Day.
Candy Land: The Werther’s Caramel Edition Game is a pop-up experiential marketing campaign organized in partnership with Hasbro. The one-day event is designed to spread brand awareness for Werther’s candies on National Caramel Day—an internet holiday that occurs each year on April 5. The game is open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, and a digital version of the game will also be posted on CaramelDay.com.
Mario Lopez, who not-so-coincidentally hosts the Candy Crush game show, will be on-site with his family.
Visitors are invited to follow the game board through four “kingdoms” with photo opportunities, facts about the company and candy throughout. The areas are called Caramel Popcorn Mountains, Werther’s Woods, Caramel Creme Lagoon and Werther’s Caramel Castle. A digital version will be available online for 30 days following the event that includes a 360-degree video of the pop-up.
The experiential pop-up taps into nostalgia around the classic Candy Land Board board game, which was first published in 1949, as well as the fear of missing out (FOMO) for fans with a sweet tooth.
Werther’s has partnered with a number of brands over the years—including Walt Disney World, where it has a dedicated shop. In 2017, the brand promoted its new caramel popcorn through an official sponsorship of the People’s Choice Awards.
As far as last year’s National Caramel Day, Werther’s commissioned a study to determine how consumers in the US pronounce the word “caramel.” A study of 1,000 US consumers found that 57 percent pronounce the treat “ker-uh-muhl.” The confectioner released its survey findings along with a celebration in Carmel, IN where they changed the name to Caramel, IN for the day and provided games, prizes and candy at a special event.
Werther’s Original was the second top-selling hard candy in the US last year, earning $86.1 million. Sales of the caramel treat were second only to Jolly Rancher.
