Keep Route 66 Kickin’

The rise of interstate highways and the restrictions of Covid-19 had hit the small businesses of Route 66 hard. We were tasked with attracting people back to the Mother Road. Using an icon of Route 66 we developed an epic road trip, bringing our Muffler Man on a month-long journey celebrating the eclectic nature of the Route, and encouraging the public to help us preserve it. With help from Mobil 1, we broke world records, grabbed news headlines, attracted visitors from across the country, and moved us one step closer to making Route 66 a National Historic Trail.

Our first task was to hit the road and unearth the stories and people that make Route 66 what it is. We kicked off our campaign by spending 3 weeks documenting the businesses and people of Route 66.

With all of these businesses, people, and stories we needed a central focus for the campaign. In stepped the Muffler Man. We adopted him as our mascot to help bring our adventure to life. First step was to create a series of OOH that directed drivers off the Interstate and back onto the Mother Road. We developed a range of Muffler Man designs that represented all of the weird and wonderful things found on Route 66. These also became the key art for promoting the road trip.

While our outdoor directed people to Route 66, we needed an actual physical mascot to travel across the country. We partnered with Bell Plastics (the original Manufacturer of Muffler Men) to create a bespoke 20ft giant, along with a suitcase, to travel across the country.

Santa Monica We kicked off the road trip on Santa Monica Pier, with musical acts, merchandise give-aways and a visit from legendary car collector Magnus Walker. We gathered signatures and spread the word about our campaign.

At each stop, our Muffler Man had signage directing the public to sign our petition to protect Route 66 and Keep it Kickin’. Our site allowed the public to sign the petition, follow the road trip, learn more about the small businesses, and create their own trip!

Seligman, AZ The next stop saw us break our first record at Delgadillo’s Snow Cap. Famed for their milkshakes and practical jokes, we served up some of the most ridiculous flavors for the locals to taste.

Albuquerque, NM A classic eating contest then followed at the Clowndog Hot Dog Parlour. People came from far and wide to cheer on the competitors in their attempt to break the record for most corndogs eaten in 3 and 8 minutes.

Litchfield, IL It doesn’t get much more iconic than a Route 66 Drive In movie experience. We teamed up with the Sky View theatre to create the largest ever Doggy Drive-in. Hundreds of doggies and their owners came out to help us break a record.

As a thank to everyone who came out to the event, each pet parent got their own professionally shot portrait.

For those who couldn’t make it to Litchfield, we brought the experience direct to New York. Our ‘Drive In Bus Theatre’ allowed the public to get a taste of our campaign, as well as bring their dogs along for the experience.

Vinita, OK For the final stop, we partnered with the Hi-Way cafe. Together, with the help of local residents, we completely covered a classic car in over 60,000 stickers. This gruelling task captured public attention and brought some much needed love to the Hi-Way cafe.

Our campaign got a boost from Kevin Harvick, as he showed his support with a KR66K scheme during the Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Cup Series.

By the end of the road trip, we had visited hundreds of small businesses, meet thousands of people, and shared our story with millions. More importantly, we had put Route 66 back on the map, and our signed petition got us closer to making Route 66 a National Historic Trail.