Context/Insight Situation  

When popular online game, Roblox, announced it was removing Pal Hair as the default hair avatar for new players, gamers were outraged. Lovingly-dubbed “Bacon Hair” for its resemblance to the beloved food, being a “bacon” was a core part of Roblox culture — until its removal was snuck in as a part of a game “update” in the summer, 2023. It was the default avatar for nine years.

However, for America’s favorite bacon, Oscar Mayer, Roblox’s attack on bacon served as an opportunity to drive the conversation, and action. So, we quickly launched our response to the most disastrous decision in the history of bacon gaming decisions and launched the #SaveBaconHairs campaign.

Idea/Concept + Execution

We kicked the campaign off by creating a Bacon Hairs Instagram filter — an “Oscar-fied” and virtual version of Roblox’s Pal Hair — which fans could use to show their support on social. And, we partnered with one of the biggest Roblox influencers, Lana Rae. An outspoken bacon-hair supporter with 8+ million followers across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, Lana helped galvanize gamers for our cause and helped launch the filter. With 80,200 filter uses, we were just getting started.

Next, we made concerted effort to gain support everywhere Roblox fans were — online, in the meat-averse, and beyond.  

We drove the iconic Wienermobile to Las Vegas to infiltrate the largest gaming convention, TwitchCon, where we knew we wouldn’t just engage fans — we’d certainly run into streamers and gaming-influencers as well. There we gave away bacon hair wigs, collected signatures to #SaveBaconhairs and connected with gaming streamers and influencers who later helped us spread the word. Their support from the event had a halo effect as new fans and support flooded in via their Twitch streams and social channels. We even sparked protests within Roblox itself. 

We continued the fight for petitions on social with one last influencer handshake post featuring Lana. Once again, Lana garnered support from the gaming community prompting fans to drop a bacon emoji (🥓) in comments as a form of petition.

After all our efforts, we tallied all the support and sent it over to Roblox, along with boxes of Oscar Mayer bacon to help change their minds.  

Results

While Roblox is yet to make an official statement, with 3.1M gamers reached, 4.2M total reach, 3.3M social views, 277,000 signatures, 40,000 supportive comments, and a 7% increase in average bacon sales during the campaign — our love of bacon has resonated with Roblox, and bacon, fans nationwide. 

And with Roblox privately expressing their excitement over the support to Oscar Mayer, the return of Bacon Hairs looks promising.