Brand Marketing
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Global Ads Spotlight: Ecuador's golden grain hunt was anything but plain
Arroz Súper Extra's "Rice of Glory" campaign turned the mundane into a marketing masterclass, proving that even a grain of rice can cause a feeding frenzy. Read and watch in our Global Ads Spotlight column.
In a market flooded with 20+ brands offering, well, pretty much the exact same white grain, Ecuador's reigning rice king, Arroz Súper Extra, needed more than just a logo refresh to hold its ground.
So it went rogue. The brand dipped into a bit of Wonka magic and dropped hand-painted, prize-packed rice grains into shiny new black packs - sparking what can only be described as a grain-fuelled treasure hunt.
A campaign cooked to perfection
Dubbed "Rice of Glory", the campaign leaned into Ecuador's rice obsession - 50 kilos per person annually isn't just consumption, it's devotion. But instead of dangling discounts, Súper Extra tapped into curiosity and competition.
Hiding micro-painted grains inside select packs, the brand offered a quirky (and oddly beautiful) incentive to really look at your rice before boiling it to oblivion.
Each winning grain, painted in non-toxic ink by Sri Lankan micro-artist Dayananda, promised big-ticket rewards - cruises, trips to the Galapagos, phones, TVs, laptops, and smartwatches. Think of it as a culinary Easter egg hunt, only riskier, since one misstep and your prize might end up in a rice pudding.
And Ecuadorians went wild for it.
Rolling the grains, not just the dice
To sell the fantasy, Súper Extra rolled out a full-stack campaign: tongue-in-cheek TV spots showing people going to absurd lengths for a simple grain, influencer posts warning against accidentally cooking your prize, and bold black packs that visually sliced through the sea of sameness on the shelf.
The black packaging worked as a visual cue - clean, disruptive, and hiding the rice inside, forcing consumers to trust the brand. The strategy also cleverly bridged the gap between tactile product engagement and brand storytelling.
Read More: Global Ads Spotlight: When fish fell from the sky and became the world's coolest gourmet brand
Results that sizzled
Turns out, Ecuadorians were happy to stare at their rice grains for longer than usual. The 200,000 black packs flew off shelves. Sales of the regular rice pack tripled. In just one month, 1 million bags were sold, and the campaign clocked in at a tasty 3:5:1 ROI.
With 4.6 million social media contacts and 2.3 million in earned media, "Rice of Glory" didn't just create buzz - it rewired how a whole country thought about rice.
Why it worked
At its core, the campaign wasn’t about rice at all. It was about storytelling, surprise, and elevating the ordinary. By focusing on experience over pricing and turning a low-involvement product into an exciting consumer moment, Súper Extra redefined how CPG brands can disrupt on-shelf without gimmicky price wars.
It was clever. It was weird. And it worked.
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