Lucky Charms targets the ‘marshmallow-obsessed’ in hashtag sweepstakes

By Jordan Valinsky • October 16, 2015 •

It’s magically delicious and extremely rare.

Finally, General Mills is releasing boxes of Lucky Charms that only have the sweetly flavored marshmallows and not the stale-tasting toasted oat pieces that get in the way of a delicious, if not strictly nutritious, start to the day. But there’s a social media marketing catch: The brand is giving away the cereal to only 10 winners as part of a social media campaign dubbed #Lucky10Sweepstakes.

To win a box, fans have to take a picture of themselves holding an imaginary “Lucky Charms Marshmallows” box and tag it with the hashtag on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. The contest ends Sunday. It’s akin to Willy Wonka, only the winners get boxes of cereal rather than a life-altering adventure gone horribly awry.

“The Lucky Charms team receives countless calls, emails, tweets and Facebook posts from marshmallow-obsessed fans longing for a box filled with only the magically-delicious marshmallows,” it said on its blog.

Lucky Charms also gave rapper Biz Markie some work in a parody music video that shows him rapping the words “marshmallow only” for a minute and a half that has been viewed 270,000 times. Turn the speakers down:

Odds of winning are slim the hashtag has been used thousands of times on the three social networks, combined. On Twitter alone, Topsy measured more than 1,000 people using #Lucky10Sweepstakes with some interesting entries:

#Lucky10Sweepstakes I WANT A BOX OF JUST MARSHMALLOWS pic.twitter.com/mBu8rWtNL5

— scum boi (@emmetjenks) October 15, 2015

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…Now all I’m missing is a limited edition box. #Lucky10Sweepstakes pic.twitter.com/HNTHcFdjeQ

— Gabe Fonseca (@MrGabeFonseca) October 15, 2015

Hey @LuckyCharms I’m a huge fan as you know! I would love a marshmallows-only box!!#Lucky10Sweepstakes pic.twitter.com/tKqGJPXWKI

— Micah Williams (@MicahwilliamsSC) October 16, 2015

“We wanted to have a little fun and connect with our fans. It needed to be easy and accessible for everyone to have a chance to win and celebrate what makes us, us – the marshmallows,” wrote Amanda Hill, a Lucky Charms marketing manager.

Lucky Charms has been taunting fans about the existence of a marshmallow-only version for a while by sending them to influential people with a large social media presence, like Kylie Jenner and Blake Shelton.