Krispy Kreme's new doughnut ads encourage consumers to lick their smartphones and tablets in response.
The company's digital business manager Russell Schulman says the ads – which promote the Decadent Desserts range – give consumers the opportunity to virtually lick the toppings off their favourite doughnut while racing against the clock to produce the fastest ‘lick time’.
“They can also challenge friends to beat their score by sharing their results through social channels,” he says.
“We understand not everyone will choose to lick their phone, and to those people we say: Why not head in-store and try the real thing instead?”
The lickable ads use Google’s Lightbox ad technology, giving consumers a full-screen experience. Lightbox also extends the time consumers have to interact with the brand due to a two-second hover delay mechanism which cuts down on accidental expansions.
New doughnut dessert flavours include New York Cheesecake, Black Forest, Lemon Meringue and Tiramisu.