It’s been a little over a year since Facebook introduced livestreaming capabilities, and a number of food brands, in particular, have taken full advantage of this new-found opportunity to make mouths water. Luckily, there’s a “National Day” for just about everything, especially food. Here are a few examples of tasty campaigns executed via Facebook Live so far this year.

Nescafé

To celebrate International Coffee Day on October 1, Nescafé—the world’s first instant coffee—hosted a 24-hour livestream over Facebook Live, YouTube and Periscope. Audience members were encouraged to share videos of themselves drinking a cup of joe and the best content was shared on the air. Michael Chrisment, Nescafé’s global head of integrated marketing, told [a]listdaily that the company is all about making connections that matter.

“Livestreaming was the perfect way to bring people together in an innovative, and very real, way. When you wake up, you grab your phone and a coffee. Nescafé and social media go hand-in-hand, which is why Facebook livestream was a great way to reach our fans.”

For every video submitted, the Nestlé-owned food industry giant distributed a coffee plantlet to a farmer around the world. Not only did coffee drinkers celebrate their beloved beverage together, but did so with the confidence that they were making a difference.

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Popeyes

For National Fried Chicken Day on July 6, Popeyes took to Facebook Live with a virtual drive-thru window and jazz musician. Fans were encouraged to interact with the stream through trivia, music and games. Participants in the US who commented also had the chance to win a delivery of Popeyes’ limited-time offer of their $5 Boneless Wing Bash.

“Not only will we engage with current consumers but we also have an opportunity to reach new consumers that maybe never tried us,” said Hector A. Muñoz, chief marketing officer for Popeyes.

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McDonald’s

To celebrate National Hamburger Day on May 25, McDonald’s hosted its first Facebook Live video—an hour-long art show reminiscent of Bob Ross’ The Joy of Painting. Titled The Starving Artist, the mock program featured an improv actor wearing a sweater and fanny pack creating hamburger-inspired artwork. He told viewers that he was going to take the burgers from “mouth-worthy to museum-worthy.”

Over the course of the show, three oil paintings were revealed: “The Beefy Gastronaut,” “Burger Brawn” and “Beefy Peaks.” The paintings by artist Adam Holzrichter were then auctioned on eBay to benefit the Ronald McDonald House charities.

McDonald's celebrated National Hamburger Day with their first Facebook Live stream. The paintings above will be auctioned for their Ronald McDonald House charities. (Source: McDonald's)

Tastemade

Sometimes you just wanna watch food, and over 3.8 million people decided they wanted to watch tiny food being cooked in a tiny kitchen. Tastemade has been experimenting with daily Facebook Live content since the spring, and discovering that fans are hungry for more. Producing original live content between 10-to-60 minutes in length, the company has learned that high engagement doesn’t necessarily mean a lot of upfront cost. A livestream of latte art has garnered over 2.4 million views to date, for example, and over 100,000 simultaneous viewers as it happened.

“What we’ve found so far [on Facebook Live is that] it does not need to be TV-quality to get people excited,” Oren Katzeff, head of programming at Tastemade told Digiday. “That doesn’t mean everything we do is going to be raw, but we do have the range to test different styles of video.”

This tiny kitchen is a big hit for Tastemade. Source: Mashable
This tiny kitchen is a big hit for Tastemade. Source: Mashable