Carmella Creeper is the first female character in the Monster Cereal lineup. To celebrate Halloween, General Mills and marketing agency VMLY&R Commerce launched an augmented reality game featuring Carmella Creeper, the newest character in General Mills’ Monster Cereal lineup.
For the past 35 years, the General Mills monster group has consisted of three characters: Count Chocula, Franken Berry and Boo Berry. Carmella Creeper, an undead DJ, is the first female character in the lineup. She’s featured on her caramel apple cereal as well as the Monster Mash Remix cereal box.
In partnership with Walmart, VMLY&R Commerce created the “Creep to a New Beat” shoppable AR experience, inspired by Carmella’s remix of the classic Halloween song “Monster Mash.”
The experience allows shoppers to scan a QR code and place Carmella’s DJ booth in the environment in front of them through augmented reality. From there, they can play a timed music rhythm game that challenges them to tap on circles in time with the music as cereal pieces pass over them.
People can tap pictures of Count Chocula, Franken Berry and Boo Berry to create their own version of the “Monster Mash” remix as they play. The experience will automatically record the player’s performance, and the resulting video can be downloaded and shared.
The experience also allows people to quickly navigate to Walmart to shop for Monsters Cereal products.
The AR game was developed by XR studio Groove Jones.
“We’re so excited that Monsters cereal and snack fans are going to have a new way to engage with our brands by capturing easily shareable and personalized content, while driving awareness and purchase in the moment,” said Larissa Starkweather, customer marketing associate manager of morning foods for Walmart at General Mills.
The “Creep to a New Beat” campaign will be supported by shoppable in-store displays, content from influencers and celebrities (including professional dancer Cheryl Burke) and more.
“This is a great example of creative commerce capitalizing on a favorite seasonal brand in a fresh way that crosses different ages within families,” said Matthew Terry, group director at VMLY&R Commerce.
The original article appeared on Adweek.com on October 16, 2023 – https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/general-mills-augmented-reality-game-monster-cereal/