The One Show
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Category
Inventive Feature Use or Modification
Annual ID
OS26_SM047M
Background
Dairy Queen Canada faces a consistent seasonal challenge: frozen treat sales decline each autumn as consumers shift toward warm comfort foods. Traditional promotional tactics struggle to change this behaviour, particularly among younger audiences who increasingly engage with brands through social platforms rather than conventional advertising.
At the same time, Canadians actively document fall through social media. Seasonal photography, especially capturing colorful leaves, becomes a widespread behaviour as users share autumn experiences through mobile cameras and social feeds.
DQ identified an opportunity to connect with consumers directly within this behaviour. Rather than interrupting social media usage with ads, the brand sought to integrate itself into how people already used their cameras and shared seasonal moments.
The challenge was to rethink how a familiar social platform feature could deliver real-world value while remaining native to user behaviour.
The objective became transforming a social media tool from a content creation feature into an interactive promotional system, allowing participation to feel organic, playful, and socially shareable while driving measurable business impact.
The objective was to create a scalable mobile experience that blended real-world exploration with digital interaction, allowing nature itself to become the entry point to the brand while driving measurable in-store traffic.
At the same time, Canadians actively document fall through social media. Seasonal photography, especially capturing colorful leaves, becomes a widespread behaviour as users share autumn experiences through mobile cameras and social feeds.
DQ identified an opportunity to connect with consumers directly within this behaviour. Rather than interrupting social media usage with ads, the brand sought to integrate itself into how people already used their cameras and shared seasonal moments.
The challenge was to rethink how a familiar social platform feature could deliver real-world value while remaining native to user behaviour.
The objective became transforming a social media tool from a content creation feature into an interactive promotional system, allowing participation to feel organic, playful, and socially shareable while driving measurable business impact.
The objective was to create a scalable mobile experience that blended real-world exploration with digital interaction, allowing nature itself to become the entry point to the brand while driving measurable in-store traffic.
Creative Idea
Instead of using AR lenses purely for entertainment or visual effects, DQ transformed Snapchat’s camera into an interactive reward system. Users scanned fallen maple leaves with a custom Lens to unlock personalized offers, including an 85¢ Blizzard or free shake.
The innovation was in redefining the Lens’s purpose. Rather than overlaying graphics onto faces or environments, the Lens connected physical objects to tangible rewards, converting a playful social feature into a commerce-driving mechanism.
Because Canadians were already photographing autumn scenery, participation felt natural. Scanning leaves mirrored existing platform behaviour while introducing a new outcome: discovering value through interaction.
Each scan created shareable moments, encouraging users to capture and distribute their discoveries socially, extending reach organically through peer participation.
By modifying how users experienced a familiar Snapchat feature, Falling Coupons transformed the platform from a space for content consumption into a tool for real-world exploration and reward.
The innovation was in redefining the Lens’s purpose. Rather than overlaying graphics onto faces or environments, the Lens connected physical objects to tangible rewards, converting a playful social feature into a commerce-driving mechanism.
Because Canadians were already photographing autumn scenery, participation felt natural. Scanning leaves mirrored existing platform behaviour while introducing a new outcome: discovering value through interaction.
Each scan created shareable moments, encouraging users to capture and distribute their discoveries socially, extending reach organically through peer participation.
By modifying how users experienced a familiar Snapchat feature, Falling Coupons transformed the platform from a space for content consumption into a tool for real-world exploration and reward.
Insights & Strategy
The strategy was grounded in a key social insight: users engage most deeply with platform features when brands enhance behaviours they already enjoy rather than introduce new mechanics.
Snapchat’s camera is central to how users interact with the platform. Seasonal moments, especially fall landscapes, naturally drive camera usage and sharing.
DQ’s strategy was to embed brand interaction directly into this behaviour by expanding the function of the Lens beyond entertainment.
Key strategic principles included:
Use an existing platform feature instead of introducing new technology
Align interaction with organic social behaviour
Encourage discovery and sharing through participation
Convert playful interaction into real-world action
By allowing users to uncover rewards through exploration, the experience preserved the spontaneity and authenticity expected within social environments.
The Lens became both a creative tool and a utility, encouraging repeated engagement while maintaining a native social experience.
This approach ensured the campaign spread through user activity rather than paid promotion, allowing social behaviour itself to drive awareness and participation.
Snapchat’s camera is central to how users interact with the platform. Seasonal moments, especially fall landscapes, naturally drive camera usage and sharing.
DQ’s strategy was to embed brand interaction directly into this behaviour by expanding the function of the Lens beyond entertainment.
Key strategic principles included:
Use an existing platform feature instead of introducing new technology
Align interaction with organic social behaviour
Encourage discovery and sharing through participation
Convert playful interaction into real-world action
By allowing users to uncover rewards through exploration, the experience preserved the spontaneity and authenticity expected within social environments.
The Lens became both a creative tool and a utility, encouraging repeated engagement while maintaining a native social experience.
This approach ensured the campaign spread through user activity rather than paid promotion, allowing social behaviour itself to drive awareness and participation.
Execution
Falling Coupons was executed through a custom Snapchat Lens designed to recognize fallen maple leaves and trigger interactive reward experiences.
Users activated the Lens within Snapchat and scanned leaves in their environment using the platform’s native camera interface. Upon recognition, animated AR elements revealed a unique digital offer instantly redeemable at Dairy Queen locations.
The experience required no additional apps or downloads, ensuring seamless participation within existing user habits.
Creative execution prioritized simplicity and shareability. Visual overlays aligned with autumn aesthetics while encouraging users to capture and share their interactions directly through Snapchat’s messaging and story features.
Because participation occurred within a social platform, each interaction naturally generated content, turning users into distributors of the campaign experience.
The Lens effectively modified Snapchat’s role from a visual effects tool into a nationwide interactive promotion powered by user-generated discovery.
Users activated the Lens within Snapchat and scanned leaves in their environment using the platform’s native camera interface. Upon recognition, animated AR elements revealed a unique digital offer instantly redeemable at Dairy Queen locations.
The experience required no additional apps or downloads, ensuring seamless participation within existing user habits.
Creative execution prioritized simplicity and shareability. Visual overlays aligned with autumn aesthetics while encouraging users to capture and share their interactions directly through Snapchat’s messaging and story features.
Because participation occurred within a social platform, each interaction naturally generated content, turning users into distributors of the campaign experience.
The Lens effectively modified Snapchat’s role from a visual effects tool into a nationwide interactive promotion powered by user-generated discovery.
Results
Falling Coupons demonstrated how inventive use of a social platform feature can drive both engagement and business performance.
Nearly 195,000 Canadians participated through organic interaction with the Snapchat Lens, discovering offers through everyday social behaviour.
Business results included:
Blizzard sales increased by 5% during the campaign
Shake sales increased by 12.9%
Successful reversal of DQ Canada’s typical autumn sales decline
The campaign achieved national scale without traditional media distribution, relying instead on user participation and platform-native sharing.
By transforming Snapchat’s Lens from a creative filter into an interactive commerce tool, Falling Coupons showcased how brands can unlock new value from existing social features, proving that innovation on social media often comes from reimagining how familiar tools can work in entirely new ways.
Nearly 195,000 Canadians participated through organic interaction with the Snapchat Lens, discovering offers through everyday social behaviour.
Business results included:
Blizzard sales increased by 5% during the campaign
Shake sales increased by 12.9%
Successful reversal of DQ Canada’s typical autumn sales decline
The campaign achieved national scale without traditional media distribution, relying instead on user participation and platform-native sharing.
By transforming Snapchat’s Lens from a creative filter into an interactive commerce tool, Falling Coupons showcased how brands can unlock new value from existing social features, proving that innovation on social media often comes from reimagining how familiar tools can work in entirely new ways.
2026 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit
Credits
Agency
Publicis / Toronto
Media Agency
Dentsu X / Toronto
Chief Creative Officer
Vinicius Dalvi
Chief Strategy Officer
Mary Chambers
Content Creator
Evan Chen
Timeia Buhra
Creative Director
Emmanuel Obayemi
Global Chief Creative Officer
Marco Venturelli
Group Strategy Director
Chris Whyte
Head of Design
Victor Yves
Senior Art Director
Pedro Minari Felippe
Senior Copywriter
Joseph Ruiz
Account Director
Haleigh Magill
Account Supervisor
Rachel Senay
EVP, Managing Director
Serene Gaspar
Bobby Malhotra
Group Account Director
Silvia Parkinson
SVP, Brand Lead
Shawna Hayman
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