The Mentos #SayHello emoticons candies encourage new discussions in real life or as they quote, “Fresh way to say hello”. Emoticons have often made it easier for people to express themselves while texting. While, in this case, Perfetti Van Melle, one of the largest manufacturers of chewing gum and confectionery, invites customers to initiate a conversation and engage in face-to-face interaction.

 
 
 
 
 
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The campaign was initiated, digitally by Mentos India when they collaborated with stand-up comedians who participated and challenged each other, like Kenneth SebastianRohan Joshi, Azeem Banatwalla and Naveen Richard, to mimic the emoticon and draw a relatable scenario where they’d feel like the emoticon on the candy. It was called the #MentosEmoticonChallenge.

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Azeem Banatwalla (@azeembanatwalla)

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Mentos India (@mentosindia)

In addition to that, the brand also released an Instagram filter called the ‘Say Hello’ filter and posted several videos of influencers like Gagan Arora (@whogaganarora), Ashish Bhatia (ashishbhatiaofficial), Meisha (@meishaiyer), Sukriti (@hisukriti) and Apoorva (@the.rebel.kid) enacting the mood of the filters in their flair for content creation.

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Mentos India (@mentosindia)

Another cool marketing way was when the brand posted a picture that said “Last seen laughing at people who need to think of ways to say hello. Duh… just share a Mentos no?” with the caption, “Hey, @primevideoin, here’s the right way to #SayHello!” with the hashtag – #Mentos #FreshWayToSayHello #LastSeenLaughing #LOLonPrime because Amazon Prime Video came up with a show called ‘LOL: Hasse Toh Phasse’ to which Prime Video India replied, “*offers a mentos*”.

 
 
 
 
 
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Lastly, the brand participated in a creative yet marketing banter on Twitter with other brands such as Filter Copy, MTV India, Mirchi, Filmfare, Mad Over Marketing, etc. and posted it on Instagram with “We said hello to your favourite brands and this is how it went” and what was a cherry on top of the cake was how the brands replied with their punchlines.

 
 
 
 
 
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So, the next time you want to initiate a new conversation, duh… just #SayHello with Mentos no?