To mark one year since the introduction of its popular M&M's Pretzel candy, Mars Chocolate North America threw a public party on Thursday that not only entertained New Yorkers young and old, but also saw Grammy-winner Cee Lo Green help break a Guinness World Record for the world's largest piñata. Standing 46 feet tall in the 69th Regiment Armory, the papier-mâché-clad replica of the orange M&M's Pretzel character—referred to by the brand as a "spokescandy"—held thousands of bags of the chocolate sweets, which were released and distributed to the audience.
The event came on the heels of an announcement in February that the confection was awarded top honors in a survey of 60,000 consumers. "When M&M's Pretzel was recently named the 'Product of the Year,' we knew we'd have to throw an unforgettable birthday bash," said Debra A. Sandler, chief consumer officer of Mars Chocolate North America. "And it doesn't get more exciting than Cee Lo Green, a 46-foot replica of Orange, and thousands of bags of M&M's Pretzel."
To produce the 90-minute daytime publicity stunt, Synergy Events worked with M&M's parent company Mars Incorporated and its public relations firm Weber Shandwick.
"Because this was an intricate, multiday build that needed to be kept private until it was finished, we needed a large, controllable indoor space," said Keith Green, vice president of communications and agency partnerships at Synergy Events. "It also had to be in a consumer and media-friendly location. All of those factors led us to the 69th Regiment Armory, which proved to be a terrific venue for this event."
The towering form, which required a permit from the Department of Buildings and was structurally engineered and approved by a New York State licensed engineer, had an inflatable shell under the papier-mâché exterior, with truss and decking comprising the interior.
It took a team of about 15 to 20 people, working in shifts, five 20-hour days to build the structure and prepare the entire site for the party. "Our team put about 5,000 hours into engineering, design, creating material solutions, developing a prototype, building it, testing it, a mock setup, infrastructure construction, Department of Buildings certification, and finishing/fine touches ... all the way through to showtime, which included working with the Guinness Book of World Records team to verify that the record was broken," said Green. Teardown took about eight hours.
For the public, the event offered plenty of things to occupy their time, not the least of which was an appearance made by Cee Lo Green. At noon, Z100 radio personality Danielle Monaro led the crowd in a chorus of "Happy Birthday," while a cake topped with a single lit candle was presented on the stage at the foot of the giant piñata. Monaro then introduced the popular singer, who pulled two strings attached to each side of the M&M's Pretzel statue, effectively breaking open the figure and releasing the bags of chocolate candies.
Mars Chocolate North America also took the opportunity to engage an online fan base by posting videos of the event—the process of building the piñata and the public celebration—on Facebook.
