McCain is a company that prides itself on bringing families together. But the truth is that most families spend their days in disagreement – whether it’s about what to have for dinner, who has to clean the kitchen, what TV show to watch, or opposing views from neighbors and family.

The good news? 99.2% of the planet agrees on fries. They have a special place in their hearts, especially for Canadians who eat 30 pounds worth a year. But what most Canadians don’t know is that 1 in 4 fries in the world is from McCain. So they wanted to let Canadians know where a lot of their dinner-time happiness comes from.

Their task was to develop a campaign that showcased McCain as a leader in the fry category, generate buzz, get Canadians talking, and reinforce the brand’s commitment to bringing families together.

The holiday season is a time for family and friends to come together and celebrate. But let’s face it: family gatherings can be a lot. Certain topics from nosy but well-meaning relatives will inevitably arise. Talks of engagement rings (or lack thereof), political conversations that nobody asked for, and debates about cryptocurrencies are just some of the divisive topics that can cause unnecessary tension.

McCain knows that if there’s one thing that can shift those touchy conversations before they cause disagreements, it’s french fries. Leveraging this insight, the strategy was to create a campaign that used technology to turn potentially tense moments into joyful distractions centered around McCain fries.

To help their target audience of Canadian families find a universally loved dish to unify everyone during their holiday get-togethers, McCain launched DistractiFRY: a voice-activated device that dispenses hot, crispy McCain fries each time it hears one of over 300 pre-programmed trigger words and phrases (such as “Got a job yet?”, “Who are you voting for?”, and “When are you getting married?”) – phrases that were generated via social listening on the most popular social media platforms.

The agency’s device used cutting-edge technology in a cheeky way to successfully distract from those all-too-familiar awkward family conversations with the one thing everyone loves: fries. Was it ridiculous? Yes. But that’s what made it so interesting for their audience.

Then, the agency created short-form and long-form videos showcasing how the DistractiFRY machine worked on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube pre-roll, and digital display ads. All of which pushed consumers to a landing page where they had the opportunity to win the DistractiFRY device for their next family gathering. This microsite also housed an FAQ (Freakin’ Awkward Questions) section to further support Canadians trying to re-direct contentious dinner conversations.

McCain also partnered with TikTok superstar Kris Collins (@KallMeKris), whose sketch comedy highlights the nuances of family gatherings, to further demonstrate how fries can be the perfect solution to bring families together.

Last but not least, they decided to show off the DistractiFRY device on a live television segment from one of Canada’s longest-running morning shows, Breakfast Television.

Not only did DistractiFRY blow through advertising benchmarks, but it had a huge impact on McCain’s bottom line. The campaign garnered over 53,000,000 media impressions, leading to a 22% increase in McCain fries compared to the same period the previous year – and an 8% lift in sales nation-wide compared to the 5 week period before the campaign was in market. All this lead to a 3.5% increase in total market share, recovering 2 years of market share loss in just 4 months.

Plus, their video completion rates exceeded benchmarks by 220% on YouTube pre-roll and 280% on TikTok, showing that consumers were genuinely interested in what they had to say. And showing that sometimes all you need to bring people together is a ridiculous piece of technology, and fries.