FAO Schwarz, Lunchables Debut Immersive Toy Store
“For years, kids have been dreaming, building and creating with Lunchables,” said Rachel Drof, marketing director at Kraft Heinz, in a recent media release. “Like other traditional toys, Lunchables has fostered creativity and individuality by encouraging kids to use their imaginations while playing with and building with their food. Now, we’re taking it one step further by giving kids the tools to build anything they can imagine out of Lunchables – like a rocket ship or a robot."
Kraft Heinz’s Lunchables is taking over ThreeSixty Group’s FAO Schwarz flagship store at New York’s Rockefeller Center with an immersive store experience as well as limited-edition building kits for the back-to-school season.
Throughout September, the FAO Schwarz store will contain “larger-than-life” Lunchables creations, including a 6-foot-tall “cracker stacker rocket ship,” a “kabobble trojan horse” and a pepperoni pizza UFO. Lunchables is also taking over the storefront windows in Rockefeller Plaza.
To celebrate Lunchables’ store takeover, the brand has launched three limited-edition building kits dubbed “Lunchabuilds,” aimed at future explorers, architects and biologists. The kits can be purchased exclusively online at FAOSchwarz.com for $100 beginning Sept. 3, though they are valued much higher, according to the website.
The Lunchabuilds kits, which resemble a lunchbox, include a Lunchables pack, a “blueprint” and a special activity based on the chosen box (either a "galactic getaway" for the explorer box, a trip to an “architectural wonder” for the architect, or a visit to an iconic zoo for the biologists).
For example, the biologist kit includes:
- A trip to the San Diego zoo, the Bronx zoo in New York or the Omaha zoo in Nebraska.
- An instant camera.
- A 3-D puzzle.
- A “YouPrint" with instructions for building a penguin out of Lunchables snack products.
- A Lunchables ham cracker stacker.
The brand says this launch and the FAO Schwarz takeover addresses the change in new family realities as parents continue to look for ways to spark kids’ creativity and imagination. “Claiming the title of ‘toy’ is part of Lunchables’ new brand platform, ‘Built to be Eaten,’” the company says. (Shoppers are also encouraged to use the #BuiltToBeEaten on social media to share their creations.) Lunchables says the FAO Schwarz toy store takeover marks the first action the brand is taking to meet the changing needs of parents by encouraging kids to “stack, build and eat their own way.”
