Hershey Blitzes Take 5

Elements of the campaign, themed “Taste and Believe,” will roll out as the year progresses. First up is TV advertising, sampling and an online film contest, the Take 5 Candy Bar Commercial Challenge.

Contest entrants create a 60-second TV spot with the Taste and Believe theme; Hershey will post the entries of five finalists for an online vote. The winner gets $10,000; the other finalists get $500 each. The contest runs through July, with online voting slated for Aug. 30 through Sept. 6. Arnold Worldwide, Boston, handles the entire effort for Hershey, PA-based Hershey Co. Arnold won the account last fall from DDB, New York, which handled Take 5’s 2005 launch.

Starting next month, the site will host competitions on a Take 5 crane game, with iPod Nanos and boxes of Take 5 bars as prizes. Site visitors can play the game online now.

Meanwhile, Hershey takes a democratic approach to its “Taste and Believe BzzBlast” sampling push: Consumers can register with word-of-mouth agency BzzAgent to get sample-sized bars to distribute among their friends. Boston-based BzzAgent will tap a reported 69,000 of its currently registered consumer “agents” to distribute samples, as well.

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