Cajun Squirrel battles Crispy Duck for Walkers Crisps deal

by Nikki Sandison, Brand Republic 09-Jan-09, 09:05

LONDON - Walkers will be offering six new crisp flavours from today including Cajun Squirrel, Crispy Duck and Builder's Breakfast following its competition that asked the public to suggest new flavours.

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A team of judges, including Heston Blumenthal, the chef who invented snail porridge and bacon and egg ice cream, chose six winners from more than 1m entries to its 'Do Us a Flavour' competition, which launched in July.

The six finalists, who came up with Cajun Squirrel, Crispy Duck, Onion Bhaji, Fish and Chips, Chocolate and Chilli, and Builder's Breakfast, will each receive £10,000.

The flavour which receives the most votes from the public via Walker's website by May 1 will remain on sale while the other five will be discontinued.

The eventual winner will receive £50,000 and 1% of all profits, estimated at £57,000 a year.

Walkers was only expecting 250,000 entries when it launched the competition in July but was bombarded with about 1.2m suggestions.

Entrants had to submit a flavour and a picture that best summed it up, and where there were multiple entries for the same flavour the judging panel used the pictures as tie-breakers.

Martyn Wright, the online retailer from Staffordshire who invented the Cajun Squirrel flavour, said: "The idea might sound bizarre, but it really works."

The campaign is developed and managed by experiential agency Not Actual Size with digital work by Jigsaw and above the line creative by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. OMD handled media planning and buying.

Comments

Nicola Lucas - 09/01/2009

My idea was crispy duck, it was just luck that those people entered it first as loads of people thought of the same flavours \(not bitter and jealous at all). Cocolate and chilli sounds disgusting and what the hell is cajun squirrel?

MM - 09/01/2009

Actually Nicola I think chocolate with chillies in it is delicious. Not so sure it would work as a crisp flavour though. I'd be curious to try Cajun Squirrel but, based on how I think each flavour will taste, I'm expecting Onion Bhaji to win.

Emma Molyneaux - 09/01/2009

My money's on "Cajun Squirrel" - the beauty with this is as long as it's got a bit of spice, you can make the crisps taste like anything you want! Although they may need to carry the warning "No squirrels have been harmed in the making of these crisps!".

Theo Chalmers - 09/01/2009

Whatever you think of the flavours the whole idea is a simply brilliant marketing exercise. Whoever thought it up and executed it so well should be awarded, oh I don't know, a bag of crisps? Or why not suggest an award, winner gets.....

Michael Coxon - 09/01/2009

The squirrel crisps remind me of one company's attempt to release hedgehog flavoured crisps a few years ago. The complaints will mean that they're a non-starter. They will however raise a hell of a lot of publicity