Finding that people still default to using their air fryers or ovens to heat the Pastry Toastie product it launched last year, Ginsters set up a Pastry Toastie billboard that showed toasters in action. “Our Pastry Toasties are a genuine, category‑defining innovation shaking up how people heat savoury pastry at home," said Sarah Babb, Marketing Director at Ginsters. "They deliver everything people want from a quick lunch: top‑quality ingredients, incredible flavor, and zero faff. But we know asking people to put pastry in the toaster, something they’ve never done before, means giving them a little reassurance."
With the installation in proximity to the London Underground and the mainline rail terminal, commuters saw the savory toasties pop up in sequence to spell out a message. When a new product asks consumers to rethink a habit they've never questioned, sometimes it's just a matter of showing people they can do things differently, and then the switch becomes obvious.
What Makes This Trend Stand Out
- Habit-reframing Advertising
- Shows how visual demonstrations in public spaces can shift entrenched consumer rituals and open demand for products that require new usage behaviors.
- Appliance-native Food Formats
- Positions food items designed specifically for single appliances as a category that can simplify preparation and alter purchase criteria toward compatibility and convenience.
- Commuter-focused Experiential OOH
- Uses time-pressed transit audiences as fertile ground for behavior-change messaging that normalizes novel consumption methods through repeat exposure.
Sectors Adopting This
- Food Manufacturing
- Reveals opportunities for product design tied to specific home appliances, enabling manufacturers to differentiate on use-case and integration rather than just taste or price.
- Out-of-home Advertising
- Highlights the potential for OOH campaigns to function as instructional platforms that reduce adoption friction for unfamiliar products and behaviors.
- Kitchen Appliance Manufacturers
- Creates scope for co-branded appliance features and standards that endorse third-party foods and drive sales through certified compatibility and convenience.
