Independent creative agency Snack Drawer partnered with Yo-Chi to develop ‘Bottle Battle’, an earned-first campaign designed to transform the brand’s sustainability into a cultural and commercial moment.
The campaign has reframed Yo-Chi’s decision to offer free drinking water in-store as a marketing platform. It has one objective: make the “water bill” even bigger.
Built on Snack Drawer’s ‘entertainment over earnestness’ platform, the campaign uses satire to cut through the typically serious sustainability space.
The hero creative centres on a mock boardroom, where Yo-Chi leadership are “furious” their water bill isn’t high enough – flipping traditional business logic and reframing lost revenue as a win.
Snack Drawer, co-founder and chief creative officer, Hannah McElhinney, said: “Purpose-led work often defaults to being serious – and that’s where it can lose people,”
“We wanted to express a strong environmental-led decision in a way that’s entertaining and shareable – because that’s what drives real engagement and behaviour change.”
Snack Drawer developed a unified earned and creator storytelling approach to push the idea beyond a PR moment and into culture.
The strategy focused on entertainment-led storytelling, cultural relevance, creator amplification and using earned media as distribution, positioning the campaign as both a business and cultural story.
In-store, digital screens displayed a live count of the rising ‘water bill’, reinforcing the idea in real time and connecting the campaign to customer behaviour. A Buy One Get One Free initiative across all 70 Yo-Chi venues further encouraged customers to refill and participate.
The response was immediate. In a single day, the offer drove 50,612 redemptions – bringing more than 101,000 guests with reusable bottles into Yo-Chi venues.
In just nine days, Yo-Chi’s in-store water usage also generated a $355,132 water bill in forgone bottled water revenue. It turned a sustainability decision into a measurable cultural and commercial moment.
Yo-Chi, co-owner and brand director, Oliver Allis, said: “We hope the noise from this campaign can shake up the industry a bit,”
“It’s ridiculous to celebrate losing money, but even more ridiculous is the continued sale of plastic water bottles in settings like Yo-Chi, where there’s a clear alternative.”
“Snack Drawer helped turn it into something people could engage with and be part of.”
Credits:
Chief Creative Officer: Hannah McElhinney
Senior Creator: Patricia Casten
Creator: Aaliyah Wattie
Editor: Lara Köse
Account Director Sarah Rogan
Account Executive: Roz Evans
PR: Lucy Saarelaht
