After capturing the attention of frustrated parents across the globe on social media, Dolmio’s ‘Pepper Hacker’ is now a reality for consumers as part of a national on-pack giveaway.

The device – a pepper cracker that not only lives up to its name, but also shuts down TVs, disconnects WiFi and disables mobile devices – attempts to solve the problem that technology is disrupting family dinnertimes.

With a promotional film created by Clemenger BBDO Sydney and AMV BBDO in March last year garnering approximately 100 million on Facebook and YouTube, Dolmio was inundated with requests to make the Pepper Hacker available.

“We listened to our customers, and decided that we simply had to create the Pepper Hacker en masse,” Mars Food Australia marketing director Tim Hicks said.

“Sitting around a table and connecting over food is one of the most beneficial times of the day, helping families catch-up, have fun and really connect. The Pepper Hacker reminds us of the influence technology has over us and how we can all benefit from a little down time from it”.

By developing custom software and bespoke hardware to house the WiFi-disabling technology within a functioning pepper grinder, Dolmio and Clemenger BBDO Sydney are producing over 5,000 fully-functioning Pepper Hackers as part of a national on-pack giveaway, with the devices to be covertly disguised in unassuming packaging before making their way onto the dinner tables of lucky winners.

“The new Pepper Hacker will be a great tool for families to help bring to life the fact that when you disconnect, you connect,” Clemenger BBDO Sydney’s head of creative technology, Brendan Forster, said.

“By integrating it with home WiFi systems, we have created a technical solution that any home can use to get 30 minutes [of] time back from the mobile devices that dominate our lives.”