Carnival Cruise Line is known for bringing fun to people’s lives through memorable vacations and experiences. In advance of the Labor Day holiday in 2025, Carnival teamed up with beloved ice cream maker Van Leeuwen to prove that the joy of summer doesn’t end when the calendar dictates. The two brands developed an unexpected and playful collaboration: Sunscreen-flavored ice cream. The flavor was designed as a cheeky nod to summer’s signature scent and aimed to combat what the two organizations dubbed the “End-of-Summer Scaries”— that bittersweet feeling when the season of sunshine and carefree moments winds down. The goal was simple: spark conversation, surprise audiences, place Carnival at the center of fun and extend the feeling of summer just a little longer.
Given the inherently viral nature of the concept,
Carnival centered the launch on social media, prioritizing platforms built for cultural commentary and rapid sharing. Brand ambassadors and food-adjacent creators were engaged to amplify reach and fuel organic reaction. A key constraint shaped the earned media strategy: this was a true stunt. The sunscreen-flavored ice cream was never intended for public sale and existed only in limited quantities for top-tier influencers and media, alongside custom photo and video assets, making the idea itself the headline. To maximize the campaign’s impact, Carnival developed a three-phased social media strategy, utilizing a brand ambassador, influencers and owned channels.
The social push
was immediately boosted by an earned media overlay led by LDWW, where pints were delivered to three exclusive top-tier contacts to bolster interest and potential coverage, followed by widespread media outreach that broadly expanded interest in the campaign. LDWW’s initial earned media strategy was to target reporters who covered recent high-profile and viral brand collaborations, as well as trending news reporters, ad/marketing trades, top national food and lifestyle outlets and national broadcast media. With limited pints to send to media initially, the team identified three media contacts who were apt to cover brand collaborations.