Submitted by Ask The Impossible

Katherine Ryan's Giant Wotsit

Influencer Marketing

Ask The Impossible designed and fabricated a giant plush Wotsit costume for Walkers, worn by comedian Katherine Ryan, whose Instagram post drew over 46k likes.

46kInstagram likes
46kInstagram comments

Case in 60 seconds

Walkers and Splendid Communications needed the Snackstumes campaign to keep moving past its launch, which meant securing a further burst of coverage and talkability over Halloween weekend rather than restating work already published.

The campaign appears to turn on Katherine Ryan being a known Wotsit-enthusiast, because a costume of a snack she already talks about reads as a personal joke rather than a brand placement she agreed to carry.

A bespoke giant plush Wotsit costume built for one named comedian to wear to a Halloween party, so the product itself became the costume rather than the sponsor of somebody else's.

Ask The Impossible handled creative direction, design and fabrication; Katherine Ryan was photographed by paparazzi on the way to a Halloween party, the pictures were sold into showbiz media, and she posted the look to Instagram.

Ask The Impossible reports mass coverage across national, broadcast, regional and consumer media from the pictures sold in, and reports that the accompanying Instagram post generated over 46k likes and 700 comments.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

Showbiz media audiences across national, broadcast, regional and consumer outlets over Halloween weekend, together with Katherine Ryan's own Instagram followers.
Halloween costumes read as a personal choice, so a brand appearing inside one risks looking bought, which the work answers by dressing somebody already publicly attached to the product rather than any available celebrity.
Snack brands hold little claim on showbiz coverage and a crisp cannot generate a celebrity picture on its own, so the work had to produce something a paparazzi photographer would want to shoot.
Walkers is the thing being worn rather than the subject of the story, so the product travels inside a celebrity Halloween picture instead of occupying space bought beside one.
Based on the available evidence, picture desks buy on instant recognisability, so a costume that reads as a Wotsit at a glance is what makes the shot sellable; the page does not describe any audience research behind the choice.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Instagram

Partners

  • Ask The Impossible (lead_agency), Splendid Communications (pr)

Creator role

  • Katherine Ryan — creator

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult type
Instagram likesKatherine's accompanying Instagram post was a huge hit with her followers, generating over 46k likes and 700 comments.follower_growth
Instagram commentsKatherine's accompanying Instagram post was a huge hit with her followers, generating over 46k likes and 700 comments.follower_growth
media coverageThe pics were sold into showbiz media, generating mass coverage across national, broadcast, regional and consumer media.performance

Why Ask The Impossible's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Casting talent who already name the product in their own terms gives a brand costume a reason to exist, because the joke belongs to the person wearing it rather than to the sponsor behind it.

  2. 2

    A physical build can act as the media asset, since pictures sold into showbiz desks carry a product into outlets that would not run a brand announcement on its own merits.

  3. 3

    A second burst timed to a calendar weekend appears to extend a live campaign more cheaply than relaunching it, because the campaign already running supplies the context the new pictures land in.

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