Budweiser UK Launches Knitbot, a Twitter-Powered Sweater Knitting Machine

Budweiser Knitbot

It looks like this year big brands have discovered the lowly holiday sweater, and have made it a part of their marketing campaigns leading up to Christmas. First out was Coke Zero’s Sweater Generator contest, where fans could create a mockup of a holiday sweater using the online tool. The 100 sweaters with the most votes will be produced and awarded to their creators just in time for the holidays.

Budweiser UK has launched a seasonal sweater-themed promotion in support of designated drivers. The brand is using Knitbot, a Twitter-powered knitting machine that responds to tweets that include the hashtag #jumpers4des.

The Knitbot will work around-the-clock for 10 days (November 26 to December 10) creating the red sweaters that include images of the Budweiser’s iconic Clydesdale horses. On December 11, designated drivers in the UK can apply on the Budweiser UK Facebook page for a chance to win one of the creations.

[via PopSop]

UK

Dominos Creates Brand-Sponsored Squad for ‘Call of Duty’ Play on Xbox 360

Dominos #gamefuel

While not one of the traditional food groups, pizza is certainly one of the essential elements that fuel any all-night gaming sessions.

With this knowledge at hand, Dominos UK and ad agency Iris recruited a squad of amateur gamers to represent the company by competing in “Call of Duty” with money-off voucher codes on the line.

Dominos will use their social media channels to ask gamers to add the gamertag DominosPizzaUK on xBox 360.

Nick Dutch, head of digital at Domino’s Pizza Group said:

“We’re constantly seeking new ways of engaging with our audiences and understanding what makes them tick. Playing the games they want to play is an important part of that process, and something that hasn’t been done – so we’re excited to see how far Team Domino’s can go!”

[via The Drum]

UK

‘How I Met Your Mother’ Donut Joke Inspires Tim Horton’s to Bake Up ‘The Priestley’

Tim Horton's 'The Priestley'

This week’s episode of the CBS sitcom ‘How I Met Your Mother‘ took an unexpectedly Canadian turn, as Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) travelled to Vancouver to look into his fiancé Robin’s (Cobie Smulders) admission that she once was a stalker. After flying to Vancouver, Barney interrogates Robin’s exes at a local Tim Horton’s, bribing them with donuts for more information.

One of the exes lets him know that the Robin’s story was featured on an episode of MuchMusic’s Underneath the Tunes. Once back in New York, Barney gathers the gang to watch the episode. It turns out Robin was once a Canadian pop star who revealed her darker side ‘Robin Daggers’ during a Gray Cup half-time show in Hamilton.

In the episode, Canadians Geddy Lee, Steven Page, Luc Robitaille, Paul Shaeffer, k.d. lang and Jason Priestley could recall which Tim Horton’s they were sitting in, and what donut they were eating when the shocking event took place.

While most of the Canadians’ donut choices were more traditional; blueberry fritter, maple crunch, sour dough plain. But it was Priestley’s admission of stuffing a TimBit into a Strawberry Vanilla that captured the imagination of people at Tim Horton’s headquarters. On Tuesday night, a post on Tim Horton’s Twitter account announced, “.@Jason_Priestley, we loved the idea of ‘The Priestley’ so much, we made a batch. A Timbit IN a donut? Genius.“, including a photo of the creation.

Canada