Hexclad
— Unidentified Frying Object
A Super Bowl campaign fueled by an alien conspiracy.
Overview
For HexClad’s Super Bowl campaign, we didn’t just launch an ad—we engineered a viral phenomenon that established HexClad as advanced, out-of-this-world cooking technology.
We teased the campaign by creating a conspiracy theory that Gordon Ramsay was cooking at Area 51, fueled by influencer storytelling and internet speculation, which captivated 69 million people and generated 6 billion impressions.
The mystery culminated in a Super Bowl ad revealing that Gordon was cooking for aliens using HexClad’s advanced technology. The campaign transcended traditional advertising, offering an immersive experience that kept audiences engaged and eagerly anticipating the final reveal.
Results
✲ 15.64B Total earned impressions
✲ 1,383 Earned outlets
✲ 203.5M Total views
✲ +3pts Awareness from January
✲ +2pts in Considerations from January
✲ 226% Growth in website sessions
Hero Spot: Unidentified Frying Object
Our teaser campaign led to 6 Billion earned impressions before the Super Bowl.
1 / It all started with a casual airplane selfie from Gordon Ramsay, with a tiny HexClad pan at his side.
2 / Trevor Rainbolt, famous for identifying locations from photos, placed Gordon at Area 51.
3 / TikToker Ashley Leysha claimed to be Gordon’s flight attendant while holding the tiny HexClad pan.
4 / Gordon caught wind of the conspiracy theories and provided a response to Rainbolt.
5 / Alien theorist Filip Zieba took Gordon’s words literally — linking the tiny HexClad pan design to declassified CIA documents.
Millions organically joined the debate of whether Gordon was truly at Area 51.
1 / Snopes—one of the internet’s most trusted myth-busting websites—jumped in to investigate.
2 / Wordstar caught wind of Leysha’s video, and published their own recap of the conspiracy.
3 / Alien conspiracy TikTok accounts flocked from all over to cover the story.
4 / Meme accounts published their take on the conspiracy theories.
5 / While others investigated the truth using their own findings.
The buzz peaked with the release of our Super Bowl ad.
We extended the Area 51 universe well beyond the hero spot:
1 / Our website reflects our extraterrestrial technology
2 / Gordon offers tiny fry pans fit for ZRBTS
3 / Game day kits designed for both humans and aliens.
4 / Pete and his mom learn something new about nonstick pans.
5 / Tension builds between Gordon and his alien customer. beef with one of his alien customers.
Behind the scenes with our team.