“Hot bread, hotter guys?” Sign us up.
HBO Max brought to life the cheeky Hot Fellas Bakery from “And Just Like That…” with an activation in New York City’s East Village from June 14-15. In the “Sex and the City” sequel series, character Anthony Marentino launches Hot Fellas as a bread delivery service staffed by good-looking men that eventually grows into a brick-and-mortar business. Mirroring the bakery opening in season three, the pop-up invited fans into a transformed Librae Bakery for free coffee and baked goods, limited-edition Hot Fellas swag, and surprises from the show. And fans certainly showed up, waiting in the rain in a line that wrapped around the block for most of the experience.
Once attendees reached the entrance, they were greeted by the actual, buff Hot Fellas actors from “And Just Like That…,” who once again donned the branded denim rompers from the series for the pop-up. The space included saucy taglines and quotes on the walls, such as “Our buns are guaranteed to leave you satisfied”; bread sconces; and character-themed packaging. On Saturday, actors Mario Cantone and Sebastiano Pigazzi, who play the show’s characters Anthony Marentino and Giuseppe, respectively, made an appearance at the bakery, serving pastries from behind the counter, chatting with fans and taking selfies.
“They stayed for hours and hours, just having fun with the fans, and then also, when Mario left, we heard that he went down the line outside and greeted every fan, took selfies and thanked them for coming. So it was a really immersive and personal way to connect with the fans,” says Dana Flax, vp-originals marketing at HBO and Max. “It also felt like kismet that the Hot Fellas storyline ended up landing during Pride Month. It was kind of the perfect way to pay homage to Anthony, who’s been a fan-favorite LGBTQ character since the very beginning of the franchise… His character was getting his due.”
Pop-culture brand THNK1994 designed exclusive merch items for the pop-up, including a “Men-hattan” tote bag and a “Rye-curious” baseball hat, which was “a huge, huge hit,” according to Flax. On Sunday, fans showed up at 5:30 a.m. (three-and-a-half hours before opening) to get in line for a chance to snag the embroidered cap.
“When we set out to develop the marketing campaign for season three, we had a call with Michael Patrick King, our creator, and we heard directly from him that Hot Fellas was going to have a prominent storyline in the new season,” Flax says. “It was actually him who was so excited to come to us and be like, ‘Wouldn’t this be the perfect marketing activation?’ And we were like, ‘Absolutely.’ So it felt like a gift that he left in our laps.”
The Hot Fellas Bakery fit right into the new season’s larger campaign, “Summer in the City,” playing on where the show picks up seasonally and leaning into its “steamy romances” and summer fashions, Flax says.
The brand shared the activation on its social channels and worked with content creators and HBO Max partners for pre-promotion, including influencer Jake Jonez and actor Taye Diggs, who both put on the Hot Fellas uniforms in their content. Cantone promoted the event on his socials and during his appearances on “Good Morning America” and “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”
“Our team here at Max is all about catering to fans and creating unique experiences that are going to draw them closer to our content and create a lot of love around our shows, but also, for the marketers in us, generate a lot of social buzz and earned media attention,” Flax says. “We’re truly trying to create an immersive, in-world experience for fans.”
For those who weren’t able to make it out to the bakery, HBO Max partnered with Grubhub and Seamless on “the ultimate stream-and-snack experience,” the Hot Fellas Bakery Bundle, made up of an assortment of baked goods, an exclusive Hot Fellas tote and a bread towel. Fans in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles could place an order for the limited number of bundles available free of charge the weekend of the pop-up, but unfortunately, the Hot Fellas themselves weren’t included in the delivery.
“We always try to extend our experiences beyond just a physical footprint where we can because it’s not fair to the ‘And Just Like That…’ fans who would have come to visit this but couldn’t; though, we did get people coming from all over the world to the activation,” Flax says. “Through various conversations, Grubhub emerged as a fantastic partner to do this with, and they put a ton of promotional firepower behind it on their end, too. Aside from the virtual storefronts, they also promoted it on social and did their own content creator partnerships, including with @everyoutfitonsatc… They sold out pretty fast in New York on Sunday.”
Over two days, more than 2,000 attendees visited the Hot Fellas Bakery, which served 3,000-plus pastries. The number of selfies with Cantone and Pigazzi? “Probably countless,” Flax estimates.
“I think what’s so special about this franchise is that people have loved it for decades. That kind of fan love is a unique thing, and so to be able to create experiences where they can touch and feel it in ways that they previously weren’t able to is really special,” she says. “We see the attendance as cross-generational in a really cool way, like parents going with their kids, and it’s a really beautiful thing to witness in person.” Agencies: RQ, pop-up production; Chasen Creative Media, p.r.
Photo credit: Kursza
