Lynx’s online tools for offline dating

Lynx does something smart and very “of its time.” It takes the messy, awkward first 20 seconds of talking to someone offline, and it turns that moment into a mobile toolkit.

BBH London releases a second round of mobile “pickup tools” for Lynx’s “Get In There” campaign. The promise is simple. Give young guys digital tips, tricks, and small utilities that help them make the leap from online confidence to real-world interaction. The tools are built as icebreakers you can actually use in the moment, not just a brand message you nod at and forget.

The idea in one line

Turn “offline dating” anxiety into a set of mobile utilities that create an opening.

What the toolkit looks like

The campaign centers on a suite of mobile experiences backed by video content. Three apps sit at the heart of the set: “Say Cheese,” “Spin The Bottle,” and “Perfect Man Revealed.”

Say Cheese plays with the “take my photo” moment to create a surprise reveal.

Spin The Bottle gamifies group energy and removes the “who do I choose” tension.

Perfect Man Revealed reframes a quiz into a playful personal reveal.

The pattern matters more than the specifics. Each tool is designed to create a socially acceptable reason to start an interaction, then let the person take it from there.

Why this works as marketing, not just “a funny app”

Most brand campaigns try to persuade with claims. This one tries to equip with utility.

  1. It inserts the brand into behavior, not media.
    If the tool gets used, the brand is present at the exact moment the customer cares, not ten minutes later in a recall survey.
  2. It makes “digital to physical” a real bridge.
    A lot of digital work stops at clicks. Here, the mechanic is literally about translating screen confidence into real-world action.
  3. It scales with video and gets remembered through the gag.
    The utility is the hook. The humor is the memory device. Video content becomes the distribution layer that makes a niche behavior hack feel like a mainstream campaign.
  4. It is brand-consistent without being product-heavy.
    The “Lynx Effect” idea is not explained. It is implied. The campaign behaves like an accomplice to confidence, which is exactly what the brand wants to stand for.

What to borrow if you build mobile experiences

Start with the awkward moment

Pick the one moment people avoid because it feels risky. Then design a tool that reduces the social friction in that moment.

Make the utility the hero

If the only payoff is “branding,” people drop it. If the payoff is a usable social script, they try it once, and that is often enough to create talk value.

Design for respect and consent, even when the creative is cheeky

When you play in dating and social dynamics, the difference between playful and creepy is not subtle. Build mechanics that keep choice and comfort with the other person, not tricks that corner them.

The deeper point

This is early evidence of a direction many brands move toward. Marketing that ships as tools, not just communications.

Instead of asking for attention, the brand earns a place in real life by being useful in a situation people actually want help with.

A few fast answers before you act

What is Lynx “Get In There” trying to do?

It aims to help guys get offline and start real-world interactions, using tips, tricks, and mobile tools as icebreakers.

What makes these tools different from standard mobile ads?

They are designed to be used in the moment, not just consumed. Utility first, branding second.

Which apps are part of the toolkit?

“Say Cheese,” “Spin The Bottle,” and “Perfect Man Revealed.” Each is designed to create a simple opening for real-world conversation.

What is the reusable marketing lesson?

If you can turn a customer’s friction point into a simple tool that helps them act, you move from awareness to behavior.

What is the main risk with this kind of idea?

If the mechanic crosses into manipulation, it backfires. The tool must stay playful, optional, and respectful.

Erdinger: Drinking and Driving, the 0% Twist

A car rolls through the city. A police stop follows. The officers lean in, looking for the usual “roadside donation” and the driver plays along, calmly offering a beer.

Then comes the punchline. The beer is positioned as 0% alcohol, so the “gotcha” is not that the driver outsmarts the law, it is that the product truth flips the entire situation into a clean reveal.

The prank is the plot, the product truth is the twist

This is staged like a short documentary. A mockumentary, meaning it borrows the signals of documentary realism to make a scripted idea feel “found” instead of “made.” The setting is described as a downtown South American city where traffic stops double as bribe fishing.

In consumer marketing, the fastest path to shareable attention is often a single product truth turned into a public situation people can retell.

How it works: build tension, then release it safely

The mechanism is simple and replicable:

  • High-stakes setup: alcohol control and a police stop.
  • Social friction: the uncomfortable “what will they do” moment.
  • Unexpected compliance: the product is positioned as 0%, so the driver is not “escaping,” he is “within the rules.”
  • Clean release: viewers get to laugh without carrying guilt, because the punchline is anchored in the product claim, not reckless behavior.

Why it spreads: it gives viewers a story, not a slogan

People do not forward “great taste” claims. They forward a scene they can summarize in one line. “These guys offer beer at a breath test, and it is fine because it is 0%.” That is the whole viral unit.

It also lands because the audience recognizes the broader cultural trope. Authority at the roadside. Informal negotiation. The awkwardness of power. Then the brand steps in with a disarming, simple resolution.

What the brand is really selling

The visible message is “0% alcohol.” The deeper intent is permission. It positions the beer as a choice that fits social moments where you want the ritual, not the alcohol.

That matters because “non-alcoholic” is not only a functional attribute. It is a situational benefit: it lets the product show up in contexts where a normal beer is a bad idea.

What to steal for your next viral

  • Start from a product truth that can survive scrutiny, not a vague brand value.
  • Choose a situation with instant stakes so the first five seconds do the work.
  • Design a moral “safe landing” where the audience can enjoy the twist without endorsing harm.
  • Make the retell obvious by ensuring the story fits in one sentence.

A few fast answers before you act

Is this encouraging drunk driving?

No. The joke is engineered to resolve on “0% alcohol,” so the brand can claim compliance rather than celebrate recklessness.

What is the core creative mechanic here?

It converts a product attribute into a plot device. The “0%” is not a line at the end, it is the hinge that changes what the scene means.

Why does the documentary style matter?

Mock-documentary cues create believability quickly. Viewers process it as “something that happened,” which increases watch-through and sharing.

What makes the idea portable to other categories?

The structure is generic: tension, social friction, twist, relief. Any brand with a defensible “safety” or “permission” truth can map onto that arc.

What is the biggest risk when copying this approach?

If the “safe landing” is weak, the audience reads it as promoting harmful behavior. The twist must clearly reframe the situation as responsible, not as a workaround.