First Dates
Eén
Issue 56 | September 2020
Agency
Mutant
Creative Team
Odin Saillé, Johan Van Oeckel, Olaf Meuleman
Production Team
VRT, Eén
Other Credits
Emilie Kino, Loes Daemen, Dorien Claes, Evelien Versyck, Olivier Goris
Date
July 2020
Background
When the first wave of Corona was over, bars and restaurants could open again.
However, there were a lot of safety rules: no menu’s on the tables and there had to be a minimum of 1.5 metres between the guests.
Whenever that was not possible, there had to be protective plexi screens between the guests on the table.
The plexi screens were not a very pleasant experience, but they were turned into something fun, creating a completely new advertising medium.
Idea
At the same time Eén (meaning One), the Belgian national television, was preparing a new season of First Dates, a tv show in which people who never met each other go for dinner, on an actual first date.
These new plexi screens on the restaurant tables were used and turned into recruitment billboards for the new season of the show. The shape of the screen was adjusted to make it look like a television and graphic elements were added on the plexi-glass. That way, it looked as if you were already on the show… A call to action said: Be in the new season of First Dates? Subscribe now on een.be/firstdates The adapted screens were placed in restaurants in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent and Leuven, in places where people often go on a date.
With these screens every dinner was made to look like a real, first date.
Results
Reactions on the screens were unanimously positive.
Most people don’t enjoy these plexi screens in restaurants, so turning them into something fun was very much appreciated.
At this moment a staggering 7102 people signed up to be in the next season!
Our Thoughts
Advertising is at its best when it is part of popular culture, as this idea is. It is topical and relevant to both the times we live in and to the nature of the dating show.