The One Show
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Category
Innovation / New Ideas in Public Relations
Annual ID
OS25_PR066M
Background
Mayonnaise is a condiment that a lot of people love to hate. In fact, in a recent Harris Poll, 12% of Americans said they flat-out despise mayo. And they’re not afraid to share their dislike publicly and shame anyone who enjoys it.
To make matters worse, mayonnaise consumption is highly seasonal. People see a role for it in their Summer barbeques, adding flavor to salads, burgers and hot dogs, but drop it until dry post-Thanksgiving sandwiches need rescuing. The problem is the months in between. Mayonnaise has vastly reduced usage moments in the Fall.
To make matters worse, mayonnaise consumption is highly seasonal. People see a role for it in their Summer barbeques, adding flavor to salads, burgers and hot dogs, but drop it until dry post-Thanksgiving sandwiches need rescuing. The problem is the months in between. Mayonnaise has vastly reduced usage moments in the Fall.
Creative Idea
At a time when major fragrance companies were launching their newest scents, we partnered with the most famous Mayo Super Fan, NFL quarterback Will Levis, to launch the world’s first parfum de mayonnaise to life - Will Levis No.8, his signature fragrance.
Our product launch and supporting campaign leaned heavily into satirizing the tropes of the fragrance category. Will went all in, bringing his full sexiness to bear with the right mix of bravado and cheekiness.
We wanted the fragrance to live up to the hype so we worked with a perfumer to create a pleasing scent, one with a sensual musky base, mayonnaise accord, a burst of tart lemon, an herbaceous element of parsley mixed with creamy vanilla and the addition of coffee undertones, a nod to Will’s famous TikTok where he added mayo to his coffee.
Our product launch and supporting campaign leaned heavily into satirizing the tropes of the fragrance category. Will went all in, bringing his full sexiness to bear with the right mix of bravado and cheekiness.
We wanted the fragrance to live up to the hype so we worked with a perfumer to create a pleasing scent, one with a sensual musky base, mayonnaise accord, a burst of tart lemon, an herbaceous element of parsley mixed with creamy vanilla and the addition of coffee undertones, a nod to Will’s famous TikTok where he added mayo to his coffee.
Insights & Strategy
Among all the mayo users, one segment stood out among the rest. They consumed mayo year-round and had an obsessive love of Hellmann’s.
We called them Super Fans.
And unlike the casual mayo fan, these Super Fans didn’t just eat Hellmann’s mayonnaise, they covered themselves in it. From tattooing our iconic jar on their biceps to slathering mayonnaise in their hair, Hellmann’s mayonnaise is a fashion adornment and a way of life.
With the help of our Super Fans, we could drown out the trolls and give mayo lovers a rallying point to be proud of—even in the Fall.
We dug deeper into the motivations behind Super Fans’ commitment to Hellmann’s. Surprisingly, we discovered that it elicited many of the same emotions as those associated with high-end luxury goods.
Some luxuries, like jewelry, had little commonality with mayo. Others, like leather goods, had textural similarities but little else. Luxury foods and drinks were too closely matched.
But there was one category where we found the strongest commonality and super fans over indexed for purchasing: fragrance.
Our solution: bottle their passion into a perfume so they could wear Hellmann’s all over their body.
We called them Super Fans.
And unlike the casual mayo fan, these Super Fans didn’t just eat Hellmann’s mayonnaise, they covered themselves in it. From tattooing our iconic jar on their biceps to slathering mayonnaise in their hair, Hellmann’s mayonnaise is a fashion adornment and a way of life.
With the help of our Super Fans, we could drown out the trolls and give mayo lovers a rallying point to be proud of—even in the Fall.
We dug deeper into the motivations behind Super Fans’ commitment to Hellmann’s. Surprisingly, we discovered that it elicited many of the same emotions as those associated with high-end luxury goods.
Some luxuries, like jewelry, had little commonality with mayo. Others, like leather goods, had textural similarities but little else. Luxury foods and drinks were too closely matched.
But there was one category where we found the strongest commonality and super fans over indexed for purchasing: fragrance.
Our solution: bottle their passion into a perfume so they could wear Hellmann’s all over their body.
Execution
Our executional strategy was designed to tread a balance between giving our audience a quick laugh and creating genuine desire.
First, we aligned with media coverage of fall fragrances and the lead into football season. We started with teasing the campaign across Hellmann’s and Will’s social channels with short videos.
Then we launched an over-the-top :40 hero video across socials, designed to spur Super Fans to share it and haters to comment on it, driving conversation. To drive interest in Nashville, the home of Will’s team the Tennessee Titans, we used Wild Postings throughout the city featuring Will and the cologne.
Earned media went live with supporting photography and exclusive interviews with Will discussing love for Mayo and how it inspired the campaign.
All assets drove audiences towards our Shopify ecommerce page where we released a limited drop of No.8 each day.
First, we aligned with media coverage of fall fragrances and the lead into football season. We started with teasing the campaign across Hellmann’s and Will’s social channels with short videos.
Then we launched an over-the-top :40 hero video across socials, designed to spur Super Fans to share it and haters to comment on it, driving conversation. To drive interest in Nashville, the home of Will’s team the Tennessee Titans, we used Wild Postings throughout the city featuring Will and the cologne.
Earned media went live with supporting photography and exclusive interviews with Will discussing love for Mayo and how it inspired the campaign.
All assets drove audiences towards our Shopify ecommerce page where we released a limited drop of No.8 each day.
Results
--Hellmann’s gained +11 bps of dollar share and outpaced category growth by 2.4% during launch and has sustained share growth in every week since.
--In the month post launch (weeks ending from 8/18-9/8) Hellmann’s increased $ sales volume by 3.95% vs the same period from year prior.
--The work garnered over 12.3 billion earned impressions with over 1,325 pieces of earned coverage and over 1.1 billion organic social impressions.
--During the week of availability, our daily drops of between 250 and 500 bottles were released for purchase, selling out in less than a minute.
--Organic search volume for Hellmann’s increased by 22% from July to August vs. remaining flat during the same time period in 2023.
--Hellmann’s owned social performance surpassed the brand’s average engagement rate for organic posts by 5%.
--The announcement post was Hellmann’s top-performing Instagram post of all time.
--In the month post launch (weeks ending from 8/18-9/8) Hellmann’s increased $ sales volume by 3.95% vs the same period from year prior.
--The work garnered over 12.3 billion earned impressions with over 1,325 pieces of earned coverage and over 1.1 billion organic social impressions.
--During the week of availability, our daily drops of between 250 and 500 bottles were released for purchase, selling out in less than a minute.
--Organic search volume for Hellmann’s increased by 22% from July to August vs. remaining flat during the same time period in 2023.
--Hellmann’s owned social performance surpassed the brand’s average engagement rate for organic posts by 5%.
--The announcement post was Hellmann’s top-performing Instagram post of all time.
2025 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit
Credits
Agency
Edelman / New York
Production Company
Sequitur Cinema / Nashville
Post Production Company
Bandit / New York
Light Iron / New York
Chief Strategy Officer
Melle Hock
Design Director
Chris Perry
Executive Creative Director
Megan Skelly
Global Chief Creative Officer
Judy John
Global Chief Strategy Officer
Brent Nelson
Associate Creative Director, Art
Kaleah Horton
Associate Creative Director, Copy
Alexandra Weinberg
Executive Producer
Alicia Cabral
Global Executive Creative Director
Andrew Simon
Jamie Cordwell
Senior Producer
Nate Millado
SVP, Group Strategy Director
Halsey Stowe
Account Executive, Brand
Nate Powers
Account Supervisor, Brand
Cortney Haygood
Account Supervisor, Earned Media
Jessalyn Kieta
Assistant Account Executive, Brand
Stevie Rowley
Business Affairs Manager
Ben Reignier
Director, Strategy
Aly Blake
EVP, Strategy
Jeremy Busch
Product Production
K Luxury Fragrances / Richardson
Senior Account Executive, Brand
Heather Felix
Senior Project Manager
Catherine Rogers
Senior Vice President
Jessica Barrutia
Vice President, Brand
Jessica Earland
Korrine Leonardis
Vice President, Earned Media
Kim Brown
Vice President, Social
Dakota Lowe
Vice President, Strategy
Nick Fasulo
Visual Designer
Blake Duncanson
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