Oscar Mayer, the famous bacon brand has created a new cryptocurrency called bacoin. The company made the announcement on April 30, introducing the new coin.
Bacoin: The First Ever Bacon-backed Crypto
Bacoin is a promotional campaign cryptocurrency that is backed by real Oscar Mayer bacon. According to the company, the coin is as volatile as other cryptocurrencies.
Commenting on the launch, Matt Riezman, brand manager at Oscar Mayer said that:
Oscar Mayer is the gold standard of bacon because of our dedication to hand-selecting the best cuts and then naturally sugar-curing and naturally hardwood-smoking our bacon. Add to that our proven expertise in the bacon-tech space, [and] Bacoin is poised to deliciously revolutionize the cryptocurrency market.
The company partnered with Mcgarrybowen, a digital advertising firm to develop the campaign. Keith Sizzle, the famous “tech prophet” is a spokesperson for the project and appears in the promotional video sporting yellow hipster specs.
Mmmm… Bacoin…
The company is urging bacon lovers to register on the platform for a chance to receive bacoins. Participants can also influence the value of the coins by spreading the word on social media. Beginning from April 30, users can mine and track the price of bacoins. They can also cash out their bacoins for Oscar Mayer bacon. Fans have until May 14 to participate in the campaign.
At the time of writing this article, one bacoin = ten slices of Oscar Mayer bacon. The bacoin website provides hourly updates of the current bacoin value.
The Usual Oscar Mayer Sales Gimmick
The bacoin campaign is another entry in a list of colorful sales gimmicks by the company. The official press release states that the bacoin launch is a promotional gag. In 2014, the company introduced a campaign that turned users’ iPhones to bacon-scented alarm clocks. The company has also created other attention-grabbing sales campaigns such as the dating app for bacon aficionados and the drone bacon delivery service.
Gimmick or not, the Oscar Mayer campaign is another pointer to the disruptive potential of blockchain and cryptocurrency. Assets can be tokenized, issued on a blockchain, and if people buy into the idea, it can become a hit. Oscar Mayer is a subsidiary of Kraft Heinz, the food manufacturing behemoth.
Are you going to prepare your cold storage options for bacoin? Does cryptocurrency and blockchain technology have a place in corporate marketing? Please share your views in the comment section below.
Image courtesy of Kraft Heinz