IRVINE, CA – The California Avocado Commission (CAC) joined in on the marketing hype of the Big Game without having to take on those Goliath-sized campaign costs by executing the use of social media.

“With California avocado season beginning now and peak availability expected from March to September, a big media spend around the football championship did not make sense for us,” said Jan DeLyser, Vice President of Marketing for CAC, said, according to a press release. “Social media gave us the opportunity to be part of the Big Game buzz and build excitement for California avocado season.”

With its #BigGameAdd program, CAC took to Twitter after having identified food and beverage brands advertising during one of the biggest marketing opportunities of the year to create complimenting recipes including California avocados.

“It required nimbleness and creativity to capture this opportunity, and the resulting consumer engagement was worth it,” Jan added. “We don’t usually feature ingredients such as soda, beer and candy in California avocado recipes but for this we stepped out of our comfort zone and into the end zone.”

By creating fun videos on how to create the recipes and tweeting them after featured commercials aired, CAC garnered the attention of more than 241,000 impressions in less than 24 hours.

According to the release, one fan even tweeted “IMO @CA_Avocados is owning #SB50 with its tweets. Forget the commercials!!”

.@NFL the biggest #BigGameAdd? California. Glad you came. #SB50 pic.twitter.com/0KtVIOYaYG

— California Avocados (@CA_Avocados) February 8, 2016

One notable recipe the commission showcased – Cali-Mex Bowls – uses both California avocados and avocados from Mexico, which were advertised during the first half of the Big Game.

Notable retweets included:

• Butterfinger
• Squarespace
• Melissa’s Produce

The news of the #BigGameAdd program was distributed to upwards of 250,000 California avocado fans subscribed to CAC’s recipe newsletter.

With targeted retailer activities on and offline in California, CAC finished off Game Day promotions on high note.

California Avocado Commission