Thomas' Rolls Through the U.S. on the Breakfast Like No Other Tour

Thomas’ Butters Up Consumers With a Rolling Toaster Tour

Posted on May 29, 2017 by Kait Shea

The Breakfast Like No Other campaign aims to eliminate the ‘crave and forget’ phenomenon

Thomas’ Breakfast Like No Other tour made a toast to the most important meal of the day with an 18-city tour aimed at driving trial and awareness of the bread brand’s array of bagels and English muffins. The tour launched on National Bagel Day and made stops at outdoor festivals, block parties and retailers aboard a custom-fabricated trailer designed to look like a toaster.

The experience began outside the 28-foot vehicle, where consumers were invited to order freshly made breakfast sandwiches whipped up by the brand’s resident chef. As they waited for their order, participants could step inside the giant toaster to snap a GIF in front of a seven-foot tall English muffin replica and take a stab at a toaster-themed game. Prizes ranged from sunglasses and tote bags to branded cutting boards.

After receiving their sandwiches at a pick-up window outside the vehicle, consumers were encouraged to dine at one of Thomas’ custom high-top tables, fabricated to resemble stacks of English muffins and bagels. Popular outdoor games including a ring toss, cornhole and KanJam were also offered.

To kick off the tour, the brand also held a special sampling event at Santa Monica Place in celebration of National Bagel Day. Thomas’ donated over 2,000 packages of bagels to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, which serves more than 280,000 people every month. Attendees were also among the first to try the brand’s limited edition flavor, Lemon Blueberry, which was on shelves for just six weeks.

“We have seen in the past that the products that we sell are really delicious, but a lot of people don’t know about them,” says Jon Silvon, senior director-marketing, breakfast portfolio, at Bimbo Bakeries, Thomas’ parent company. “There’s this idea which we call ‘crave and forget’ where you want something and then you forget about it. And I think so much of tours like this is trying to get the product top of mind and on the grocery list.” Agency: Inspira, Norwalk, CT (strategy); SFDS, Brooklyn, NY (vehicle design and fabrication).

*This article was originally published in 2016 and is updated periodically