Buzzfeed x Dairy Queen

BuzzFeed had secured Dairy Queen’s DQ Delivers campaign and developed the creative direction around surprising unsuspecting Canadians with celebrity-delivered meals. The challenge was transforming that concept into a production that felt spontaneous, authentic and entertaining while ensuring every interaction reinforced the launch of DQ’s new direct delivery service.

As BuzzFeed’s production and talent partner, we were responsible for sourcing the right celebrity to anchor the campaign, casting participants who would deliver genuine reactions, and developing a production approach that balanced hidden-camera authenticity with the planning and logistics required to execute multiple surprise interactions in a single shoot day.

We identified Tom Schwartz as the ideal talent partner, recognizing that his approachable personality, existing fan base and genuine affinity for Dairy Queen would create more authentic interactions than a traditional celebrity endorsement. From there, we cast participants, managed production logistics and developed a filming approach that embraced the unpredictability of real reactions while ensuring the campaign messaging remained front and centre.

Using a documentary-style production approach inspired by hidden-camera entertainment, we captured unscripted moments that felt natural, humorous and highly shareable. The result was a series of social-first videos that combined celebrity appeal, authentic human connection and seamless brand integration.

To extend the campaign impact, we also secured earned media placements for Tom and held a campaign launch party in Toronto, maximizing reach while engaging audiences beyond the screen.