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  1. Production & Strategy
  2. Experiential Marketing, Activations & Sponsorships

Get the Scoop on How Häagen-Dazs Created a Speakeasy Inside a Freezer

This bodega-inspired activation celebrated new flavors, paid tribute to the brand's owners, and offered plenty of surprise-and-delight moments.

Claire Hoffman
May 6, 2022

The bodega was named Rose & Reuben’s to pay tribute to the brand’s founders, Rose and Reuben Mattus. “We like to say they were the original creators and ice cream dreamers,' Häagen-Dazs's Rachel Jaiven said. 'So there were a lot of really fun and playful ways that we honored them.'The bodega was named Rose & Reuben’s to pay tribute to the brand’s founders, Rose and Reuben Mattus. “We like to say they were the original creators and ice cream dreamers," Häagen-Dazs's Rachel Jaiven said. "So there were a lot of really fun and playful ways that we honored them."Photo: Krista Schlueter
NEW YORK—
Häagen-Dazs’s new “City Sweets” collection is inspired by iconic street-food desserts—think pretzels from street carts, churros, and black and white cookies. (Hungry yet?) So it was only appropriate that the brand celebrated the new flavors with a city-inspired activation: a colorful space that evoked a classic New York City bodega.

Popping up in Brooklyn from April 20-21, the immersive experience transformed a vacant convenience store into Rose & Rueben’s, a nod to the brand’s founders, Polish immigrants Reuben and Rose Mattus.

“That historical connection, along with the street cart- and city-inspired flavors of the new collection, lent itself to bringing the launch back to where the brand began,” explained Suzanne Sherwood, creative director at Cartwright, the creative agency behind the activation. “The bodega is such an icon of New York, we felt like it was the perfect place to showcase our new City Sweets collection—and nod to the founders at the same time.”

To further tie into the new collection, the shop featured colorful artwork from Brooklyn-based artist Jade Purple Brown, who also designed the City Sweets packaging, and each aisle of the shop highlighted a different flavor. “So we had a Dulce de Leche Churro aisle, we had a Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel aisle, and then the last aisle was a Black & White Cookie aisle,” noted Rachel Jaiven, Häagen-Dazs's marketing director. “And there were some really cool visuals and things to bring to light the flavor, but also some fun things to highlight the Häagen-Dazs brand.”

The entire space—including the products on the shelves and the posters on the walls—"were customized and filled with Easter eggs about the brand, from flavor cues to fake business licenses attributed to the founders,” Sherwood added.

In the back of the shop, though, was the real treat. What looked like a normal freezer door opened to a speakeasy-like space where guests could relax, listen to music, and of course, taste the new flavors.

Cartwright worked with Unit9 to produce the activation, while The Door handled PR and Spark handled paid advertising. "And keeping in line with our brand mission of elevating up-and-coming tastemakers, we had local DJs Angel and Dren perform and photographer Krista Schlueter and videographer Andre Jones capture the event," Sherwood said.

Scroll down for a closer look inside Rose & Rueben’s, and get the scoop on how the teams pulled it off.

The bodega was named Rose & Reuben’s to pay tribute to the brand’s founders, Rose and Reuben Mattus. “We like to say they were the original creators and ice cream dreamers,' Häagen-Dazs's Rachel Jaiven said. 'So there were a lot of really fun and playful ways that we honored them.'
The bodega was named Rose & Reuben’s to pay tribute to the brand’s founders, Rose and Reuben Mattus. “We like to say they were the original creators and ice cream dreamers," Häagen-Dazs's Rachel Jaiven said. "So there were a lot of really fun and playful ways that we honored them."
Photo: Krista Schlueter
Cartwright's Suzanne Sherwood noted that the space was completely empty when the teams took it over. “It was a former food store and still had some of the shelving and infrastructure of that left over—but for the most part, we built it totally from scratch,” she said. “To us, it was important that it was in a neighborhood that felt authentic to both the brand’s history and the campaign as a whole. With Rose and Reuben living in Brooklyn when they launched the brand over 60 years ago, it felt like a great connection to have our bodega in their former neighborhood.”
Cartwright's Suzanne Sherwood noted that the space was completely empty when the teams took it over. “It was a former food store and still had some of the shelving and infrastructure of that left over—but for the most part, we built it totally from scratch,” she said. “To us, it was important that it was in a neighborhood that felt authentic to both the brand’s history and the campaign as a whole. With Rose and Reuben living in Brooklyn when they launched the brand over 60 years ago, it felt like a great connection to have our bodega in their former neighborhood.”
Photo: Krista Schlueter
The shop featured colorful artwork from Brooklyn-based artist Jade Purple Brown, who had designed the City Sweets packaging. 'Finding a space large enough for the build that felt authentic to the bodega execution was a challenge,' Sherwood said. 'Our scout lasted several rounds to find an authentic space large enough for the bodega, and that was also in a neighborhood that tied back to Häagen-Dazs and Rose and Reuben’s history.'
The shop featured colorful artwork from Brooklyn-based artist Jade Purple Brown, who had designed the City Sweets packaging.

"Finding a space large enough for the build that felt authentic to the bodega execution was a challenge," Sherwood said. "Our scout lasted several rounds to find an authentic space large enough for the bodega, and that was also in a neighborhood that tied back to Häagen-Dazs and Rose and Reuben’s history."
Photo: Krista Schlueter
Every detail was carefully chosen to tie into the brand and its history. 'We had some great art that was talking about Rose's crispy churros,” Jaiven cited as an example. “So there were just a lot of little details that we placed through the entire experience to highlight our origination and our founders—but to bring it to a current level experience for this year.”
Every detail was carefully chosen to tie into the brand and its history. "We had some great art that was talking about Rose's crispy churros,” Jaiven cited as an example. “So there were just a lot of little details that we placed through the entire experience to highlight our origination and our founders—but to bring it to a current level experience for this year.”
Photo: Krista Schlueter
Each aisle of the shop highlighted a different flavor. 'So we had a Dulce de Leche Churro aisle, we had a Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel aisle, and then the last aisle was a Black & White Cookie aisle,” Jaiven explained.
Each aisle of the shop highlighted a different flavor. "So we had a Dulce de Leche Churro aisle, we had a Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel aisle, and then the last aisle was a Black & White Cookie aisle,” Jaiven explained.
Photo: Krista Schlueter
In a fun, bodega-appropriate touch, faux newspapers also promoted the new flavors. Other clever, on-theme details included a hand-painted Rose and Reuben’s sign, which was done by a local sign painter, and a community message board—complete with a 'missing' poster for a dog named Waffles.
In a fun, bodega-appropriate touch, faux newspapers also promoted the new flavors. Other clever, on-theme details included a hand-painted Rose and Reuben’s sign, which was done by a local sign painter, and a community message board—complete with a "missing" poster for a dog named Waffles.
Photo: Krista Schlueter
In the back of the space, though, was the real treat. What looked like a normal freezer door opened to a secret lounge-like space where guests could relax, listen to music, and taste the new flavors. “It was really fun,” Jaiven said. “I stood on the other side and got to greet people when they came through, and they were just so excited and surprised.”
In the back of the space, though, was the real treat. What looked like a normal freezer door opened to a secret lounge-like space where guests could relax, listen to music, and taste the new flavors. “It was really fun,” Jaiven said. “I stood on the other side and got to greet people when they came through, and they were just so excited and surprised.”
Photo: Krista Schlueter
In the lounge space, guests could relax, listen to music, and taste the new flavors. The speakeasy concept tied into the brand's “Luxury Is Where You Are” campaign, which was launched last year as part of the That’s Dazs rebrand. “It’s all about finding luxury in unexpected places—and building a tasting experience in the back of a bespoke bodega felt like exactly that,” Sherwood said.
In the lounge space, guests could relax, listen to music, and taste the new flavors. The speakeasy concept tied into the brand's “Luxury Is Where You Are” campaign, which was launched last year as part of the That’s Dazs rebrand. “It’s all about finding luxury in unexpected places—and building a tasting experience in the back of a bespoke bodega felt like exactly that,” Sherwood said.
Photo: Krista Schlueter
On the first day, the activation hosted Häagen-Dazs's influencers and partners for a special, exclusive event. On day two, it was open to the public from 12-8 p.m. Fans could come through, take pictures, and sample the products.
On the first day, the activation hosted Häagen-Dazs's influencers and partners for a special, exclusive event. On day two, it was open to the public from 12-8 p.m. Fans could come through, take pictures, and sample the products.
Photo: Krista Schlueter
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