Restaurant: Smoothie King
Romance, refreshment, + ridiculousness.
Beach reads + smoothie sips: A summer fling to the X-treme.
The Stakes
Smoothie King was launching its boldest summer flavor yet—the X-Treme Watermelon Smoothie—but with no extra media budget and only a limited time window to make it stand out. Meanwhile, romance novels were dominating beach bags, accounting for one in four books sold in the U.S. during the summer.
The Friction
How do you generate cultural buzz (and thirst) around a seasonal smoothie drop with zero paid media and a category saturated with content? Coupons weren’t going to cut it, and traditional smoothie marketing was just background noise.
The Shift
BarkleyOKRP did what no other brand dared: used ChatGPT to co-write a full-length romance novel. The plot? A steamy love triangle between a man, a woman, and the X-Treme Watermelon Smoothie. Available as an eBook or print-on-demand from Amazon, the 228-page novel included custom flavor Easter eggs and surprise promo links woven into the story.
The Lift
The result was a juicy, ridiculous, and refreshingly original long-form ad that doubled as entertainment. Fans downloaded it, shared it, and most importantly, craved the smoothie. The brand didn’t just drop a product; it dropped the steamiest thirst trap of the summer and left readers parched for more.
Results
- $0 paid media budget.
- 646M earned impressions.
- 36K+ words written by ChatGPT.
- 700+ books claimed.
