What happens when you package a banana and a burner phone together in a box and send it to a list of high-profile CMOs at major brands? You get a self-promo that showcases the quirky and creative team ready to answer the call when it’s needed most! The Banana Phone Project was an amalgam of concepts based on the following principles: it had to be made in-house, it had to be produced on a low budget, and it had to have high impact.

We achieved this by designing a custom, screen-printed box that contained a fresh banana, a burner phone with a custom ringtone (Day-O, “The Banana Boat Song” by Harry Belafonte), matching branded wallpaper on the phone's screen, and a collection of cards featuring classic cinematic scenes where a phone was replaced with a banana. The physical package also included a digital component through a custom Tumblr page, which allowed recipients to share the experience.

Once we tracked that a package was delivered via FedEx, we surprised the recipient with a phone call. The phone was also programmed to let the user call us by holding down one key. The reactions we received were priceless, and a line of communication was opened for future opportunities. Mission accomplished.