Let’s face it, it’s no child’s play to keep kids entertained, a task that’s proved especially challenging in the last year. Ask the parents and they will list down all kinds of makeshift entertainment alternatives they’ve had to invent.
But among all these struggles, we forget about the unsung heroes who have been carrying the lion’s share of this burden. It’s not the parents, not even the teachers, it’s the toys that have been overused and much-abused.
With that in mind, agency Momentum MENA (part of McCann Worldgroup) and Yas Island have come to the rescue of the toys by urging families to stop ‘toying around and break like you mean it’ – because when the kids go free, so do the toys.
In a category that is flooded with functional offer-based messaging, this is a spin on a typical Kids-Go-Free campaign, where children stay, play and dine for free all summer long, introduces the world’s first ‘ToyTalks’ – a quirky, outlandish fusion between Toy Story and TedTalks where tired toys are finally speaking up and sharing their lockdown traumas.
Paying weird yet wonderful homages to some of the world’s most iconic toys and taking a few playful jabs at competing destinations, the campaign features original characters like Mr. Fire Tyres, Bathtub Dolphin, Marbie, and Iron Bro, all of whom deliver a unique monologue and keep the audiences engaged and entertained. Much like Yas Island itself.
Speaking of entertainment, the campaign also promises to go beyond just social content. There are Toy Repair pop-ups where families get to restore their toys and win a discounted vacation to Yas; a Toy Trade-In radio activation; engaging influencer content; and even a @ToyTalkers Instagram handle where the toys share their woes.
The campaign is further amplified by online competitions and a partnership stunt.
