TBS offered a playful twist on union rats with its own inflatable rodents.
For five days this spring, New Yorkers walking through the heart of Hell’s Kitchen couldn’t escape one mysterious question: Who’s the rat? The provocative query and an accompanying QR code were embedded in experiential installations that blanketed 50th St. between 8th and 9th avenues March 29 through April 1. Those intrigued enough to scan one of the codes were transported to a microsite where they discovered that it was TBS that had set the “traps.”
The activation was, in fact, a teaser for “Rat in the Kitchen,” TBS’s first cooking show, which is billed as a “culinary whodunnit.” Running with the premise of the series, the network went all-in on the rat theme, strategically choosing to deliver the experience in New York, a city notoriously overrun by the rodents. And by activating on 50th St., leading directly into Restaurant Row, TBS staked its claim in the culinary space.
The new series, hosted by comedian Natasha Leggero and celebrity chef Ludo Lefebvre, lets viewers play detective. In each episode, professional chefs and home cooks compete in cooking challenges while attempting to expose an undercover “rat” determined to sabotage the dishes. So, to offer a taste of what to expect from the show, TBS took the same mischievous approach to its Hell’s Kitchen takeover.
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For one, the brand installed a block-wide billboard featuring custom graphic art that was tagged with the QR code and included hidden rats throughout. But it was the trail of yellow carpet winding all down 50th St., and peppered with toy rats, that really turned heads. The carpet was stamped with rat paw prints, the QR code and “Who’s the rat?” messaging that literally stopped consumers in their tracks.
TBS also created a playful spin on New York City’s famous “union rats,” planting its own version of the giant, inflatable figures, which were dressed in aprons matching the graphic art from the billboard, and holding salt shakers and frying pans, along the footprint. In addition, custom, branded newspaper boxes lined the street, each topped with a fake hunk of cheese, tagged with the QR code and featuring a corner “gnawed off.” Faux newspapers inside the boxes asked—you guessed it—”Who’s the rat?”
Of course, you can’t implement a rat theme without incorporating cheese. To that end, TBS teamed up with artisan brand Beecher’s Handmade Cheese to create Rat Packs filled with a mystery assortment of cheeses and accompanying treats. The kits were sent to press and influencers, but to extend the goodies to consumers, TBS and Beecher’s made them available through a sweepstakes accessed via the QR code.
With help from Buddy the Rat, TBS teased the series with a block-wide billboard.
A key component of driving traffic to the walking tour was TBS’s partnership with social media sensation Buddy the Rat, a performance artist that dresses up as a rat and interacts with the public. Buddy appeared on the yellow carpet on opening day, surprising and delighting passersby, and later broadcast a one-hour livestream from the footprint while handing out Rat Packs, ultimately garnering 101,000 unique views on Instagram, and driving fans from all over the city to Hell’s Kitchen. (No word yet on how Pizza Rat is taking this news.)
“There were mobs of people trying to take video and take pictures, and [Buddy] did a great job,” says Whitney Portman, director-brand marketing at WarnerMedia. “He was an amazing partner and really tapped into the humor of it all. We wanted to be provocative and fun, like the show.”
Additional social media integrations included influencer partners promoting the Rat Packs across their channels, and a video from Leggero announcing the takeover on TBS’s handles. The host encouraged consumers to find the hidden rat in the brand’s Instagram Stories for a chance to win a Rat Pack.
“We try to bring our shows to life in the real world and create touchpoints where fans can really connect with the shows,” says Portman. “Obviously, everything has been shut down for two years and we’ve been pretty much doing all virtual experiences. Now that things are starting to look up, we thought this was a good opportunity to meet consumers where they are back in real life, and the streets of New York are hustling and bustling more than ever, so we thought that was a great place to be.” Agency: NVE Experience Agency.
