Ocean Spray
Ocean Spray did not commission this and did not know it was coming. In September 2020 Nathan Apodaca filmed himself skateboarding to work, drinking Cran-Raspberry juice and lip-syncing to Fleetwood Mac’s "Dreams". It is on this page because what the brand did next is the lesson.
- Video views
- ~80 million
- "Dreams" sales
- +374%
- Brand spend before it went viral
- $0
What happened
The video reached roughly 80 million views. Sales of "Dreams" rose 374% and the song re-entered the charts more than forty years after release. Ocean Spray had bought none of it.
The brand’s response took days rather than hours, and when it came it was a gift rather than a contract: a truck, in Ocean Spray red, filled with juice — replacing the broken-down truck that had put Apodaca on a skateboard in the first place. It answered the actual story instead of inserting the brand into it.
This is included as a counter-example on purpose. The temptation after a moment like this is to treat virality as a strategy. It is not one — it cannot be commissioned or forecast. What can be prepared is the ability to recognise it and respond well, and that is a capability worth building.
Campaign details
- Programme
- The Dreams video
- From
- 2020
- Sector
- Food & beverage
- Platforms
- TikTok
Creators involved
- Nathan Apodaca (@420doggface208)
What to take from it
You cannot plan virality, only readiness. Respond to the story the audience is already telling rather than redirecting it toward your messaging.