Marketing campaign includes Facebook Live event and TV commercials
Sonic Inc. has tapped Ice-T to promote its frozen teas this summer, featuring the rapper and actor in television ad cameos and as a thawing centerpiece to a live Facebook contest on Tuesday.
To highlight the tea offerings on social media and amplify Ice-T’s TV spot cameo, the Oklahoma City-based drive-in chain will host a Facebook Live event, starting at 1 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, that features a thawing life-size ice sculpture of the celebrity.
When the melting Ice-T sculpture drops its microphone, the first 100 users to comment on the live stream in Sonic’s Facebook page will receive a limited-edition, cold-activated t-shirt.
“The addition of Ice-T to our ‘Two Guys Frozen Sweet Tea’ spot was the perfect combination to showcase an incredible drink with a winking sense of humor, especially during National Iced Tea Month,” said Burke Morley, Sonic’s senior director of brand content, in a statement.
The frozen ice teas can be customized, a Sonic representative said, and new flavors include Wildberry and black cherry. They can also be mixed with half lemonade for what Sonic has named a “Frozen Clubhouse.”
Margaret Johnson, chief creative officer at Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Sonic’s creative agency and the leader on the Facebook Live event, said the contest “demonstrates a new way to think of a drink that’s been around for over 100 years, and we can’t imagine a better spokesperson for it than Ice-T.”
With the frozen tea platform, Sonic said it has a drink menu that offers more than
1.3 million flavor combinations. The offerings are available at half price 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., as part of Sonic’s happy hour.
For the second quarter ended Feb. 28, Sonic’s net income rose 1.3 percent, to nearly $11 million, or 25 cents per share, from $10.8 million, or 22 cents per share, the previous year. Revenue declined 24.8 percent, to $100.2 million, from $133.2 million the previous year, reflecting refranchising.
Sonic has more than 3,500 units nationwide.
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