Jimmy Dean is placing misspelled ads outside this week’s Scripps National Spelling Bee

Geotargeted campaign from Ogilvy Chicago rewards those who spot the mistakes with a chance at a free breakfast

Published On
May 31, 2023
A Jimmy Dean billboard that reads "Morneeng Combos"

Editor's Pick

Even for the seasoned copywriter, spelling is hard.

Jimmy Dean and Ogilvy Chicago are celebrating this week’s Scripps National Spelling Bee in a fun way—with billboards in the Washington, D.C., area that feature intentional misspellings. In a kind of scavenger hunt, the company is rewarding those who correctly identify the mistakes with the chance to win free breakfast and a donation to support child literacy. 

A Jimmy Dean billboard at an airport baggage carousel that reads "Find our misspelled ads and win"

This is Jimmy Dean’s first partnership with the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The creative leads on the business at Ogilvy, Eduardo Cintron and Geoff Berg, said it felt like a good match from the start.

“Jimmy Dean sets your day off on the right foot,” the pair told Ad Age in an email. “The protein-packed breakfast brings out the best in you, and keeps you firing on all cylinders. So the partnership felt like a perfect opportunity to bring the brand's benefit and promise to life.”

“It challenges the audience in an insightful way, designed to bring out the best of them,” added Isaac Pagan-Munoz, the agency’s executive creative director. “Our brand is all about optimism, and our breakfasts give you the energy you need to be alert. So, the idea felt very true to brand, and authentic to the context it was placed in.”

A Jimmy Dean billboard that reads "Bite-size brekfest on the go"

Pagan-Munoz said the agency tried to be “playful but intentional in execution,” with the ads looking much like the brand’s mass-market ads, but with subtle—and not-so-subtle—misspellings in them.

Mindshare was the media agency on the campaign. Executions are running in and around the Spelling Bee campus (the event is taking place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland) via multiple billboards, digital OOH placements and social assets. “We wanted to create a surround-sound in and around the location of the event, then scaling it via social so that anyone could participate,” said Cintron and Berg.

Success will be measured in brand awareness and brand affinity, by measuring tune-in to the Spelling Bee, and by the amount of donations made to the Howard Fund.

The 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee began with preliminary rounds Tuesday night, followed by quarterfinals and semifinals Wednesday and the finals on Thursday. 

Credits

Date
May 31, 2023
Client :
Jimmy Dean
Agency :
Ogilvy Chicago
Deputy Chief Creative Officer Worldwide :
Joe Sciarrotta
Executive Creative Director :
Isaac Pagán-Muñoz
Creative Director :
Eduardo Cintron
Creative Director :
Geoff Berg
ACD Art :
Nick Sesto
ACD Copy :
Mark Price
Art Director :
Caleb Dawkins
EVP Consumer PR :
Drew Warren
SVP Consumer PR :
Megan Malloy
Account Director :
Rona Horowitz
Senior Account Executive :
Enrique Hernandez
Chief Communications Officer :
David Ford
SVP Creative Communications :
Kappie Kopp
Executive Group Director :
Adam LeGrand
Account Director :
Ryan Tolbert
Account Executive :
Rebecca Mo
Director Strategy :
Sara Whelchel
Senior Strategist :
Olivia Rindone
Media Agency :
Mindshare
Planning Director Media :
Korie Brown
Investment Lead Media :
Tracy McMullen
Senior Strategist Influencer :
Lara Olson
Senior Strategist Social :
Ryan Krasnoo
Executive Producer :
Gayle McCormick
Senior Producer :
Jeff Drooger
Studio Director :
Erwin Chamorro
Studio Manager :
Hillary Horsfall
Print Producer :
Ami Walters
Production Artist :
Henry Purdey

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Project Type