Alek Krautmann's St Louis style sliced bagels

Social Media ‘Schmear’ Campaign ‘Bagelgate’

This Time It's Social Media Which Activates OOH Campaign

By OOH TODAY believes all voices, not just the loudest, must be heard Last updated Apr 4, 2019

Social Media ‘Schmear’ Campaign Takes to the Streets with OOH

In a reversal of the social media trend of when a billboard or another Out of Home (OOH) format activates social media, Panera Bread switched the cause effect diagram by responding to social media, in this case Twitter, with OOH.

It began when Alek Krautmann, a St. Louis native and employee of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, tweeted a photo of a box of Panera bagels which were cut like bread. “Today I introduced my coworkers to the St. Louis secret of ordering bagels bread sliced,” Krautmann tweeted. “It was a hit!”

While others responding tweeted:

“You should go to jail for 5 – 10 years if you cut a bagel like this.”

“I’m from St. Louis and I’ve never seen a carb treated so callously! How dare you sir!
…how dare you sully those bagels.”

“This is so offensive. This feels like a personal attack. I am a lifelong New Yorker and this hurts my soul. No, no, no, no, no. This is not okay.”

Chrissy Teigen weighed in… ‘vote NO on prop: slicingbagels,’ she tweeted. ‘I mean you can, and should, slice them once, horizontally.’

“Apparently NYC got pissed off at St Louis over bagels,” read the article in BuzzFeed News.
It is hysterical ⇒Apparently People Slice Bagels Like Bread In St. Louis And Honestly? WTF
“Bread sliced bagels” doesn’t sit well with any native New Yorkers.

“Bread sliced bagels” doesn’t sit well with any native New Yorkers.

“What started on Twitter and went viral to the Today Show within hours was blowing up! St. Louis Bread Company contracted 35 digital bulletins in St. Louis to start the next day. The boards are with DDI, Lamar, and Outfront.”

It is a testament to the power of Digital OOH, a trusting client and strong OOH agency planning and buying team, Outdoor Nation.