Creative Strategist · Self-directed spec concept
Defend Your Order
Turning fast food shame into fan participation.
Campaign key art: spec concept, not a real Long John Silver's campaign.
A playful, social-first spec campaign that turns the internet's jokes about Long John Silver's into the brand's biggest strength. The people who love LJS can't always say it publicly: they hide it in the comments, joking their way around lines like "I'm keeping LJS in business." The brand doesn't need to erase the jokes. It needs to join the conversation.
The Challenge
Long John Silver's is widely recognized, but much of the online conversation is driven by jokes, nostalgia, and people pretending they don't love it. The opportunity is to turn that tension into participation.
The Insight
The fans are dying to come out
The people who love Long John Silver's can't say it publicly. They hide it in the comments. They joke about it. They defend it in silence. But the love is real.
The conversation already exists. The brand just hasn't been part of it.
The Proof
These aren't mockups. They're real screenshots and a real video from the actual conversation happening online about Long John Silver's right now: the jokes, the confessions, and the fans who show up anyway.
"Did something funky today," and pulled straight into the drive-thru. The joke and the loyalty happen in the same breath.
269.7K likes on a video that's just... someone eating at Long John Silver's.
The comments write the campaign for you.
The exact line the campaign is built on: straight from a real comment section.
A real fan, posing outside a real Long John Silver's, defending their order.
"Going to the Most Hated Fast Food Chains" is a whole genre, and LJS is a recurring character.
For every joke, there's someone in the replies who genuinely loves it.
The Strategy
Long John Silver's doesn't have a perception problem. It has an ownership problem. The internet already talks about the brand. Instead of convincing people LJS is cool, the campaign gives fans permission to publicly defend what they already like.
“I've been defending for YEARS, people are missing out”
Every LJS Fan
Campaign Execution 01
Social Content
Fake influencer/TikTok-style videos where fans admit they love LJS.
"I'm tired of pretending this isn't fire." Creator-style TikToks where fans finally say it out loud.
POV: you get Long John Silver's and your friends start roasting you.
Campaign Execution 02
PR Box
A "Defend Your Order" creator kit with branded merch, sauces, stickers, and challenge prompts.
The creator kit: merch built to defend the brand for you.
Designed to be unboxed on camera: the whole point is that creators film themselves opening it.
The "Defend Your Order" hat: wearable enough that people would actually put it on.
Branded sauces, because the kit still has to feel like Long John Silver's.
Even the small stuff carries the fish logo: texture and detail that sell it as a real product.
Campaign Execution 03
Limited Edition Collaboration
From guilty pleasure to cult collectible.
People don't buy Fugglers because they're traditionally cute. They buy them because they're weird. Owning a Fuggler communicates "I get it." It's an inside joke.
Long John Silver's works the same way. The people who love it already know the internet thinks it's bad. They still eat it. Comment sections are full of people saying things like "Y'all can keep laughing, I'm keeping Long John Silver's in business." They're signaling membership in a niche group.
Gen Z is obsessed with niches and smaller subsegmented groups. One way LJS can tap into this growing community is by joining the joke and turning it into a favorable cult.
That's the real overlap. Both brands create belonging through unconventional taste. They're both saying: "If you know, you know."
The plush and its retail packaging: designed as a real limited-edition collectible, not just a mockup.
Full product photography: every angle, the packaging, and the details that sell it as real.
Fans would take it here first: the Fuggler posing at the LJS drive-thru.
...and then it lives on the shelf. Merch people want, not merch they forget.
Embroidered LJS branding: the kind of detail that makes a collectible feel worth keeping.
This collaboration happens because the two audiences share a behavior. Both Long John Silver's fans and Fuggler collectors embrace things that aren't universally loved. Owning one becomes a small act of individuality. Instead of hiding unconventional taste, this campaign turns it into a badge of honor.
There's another layer: collectibles. Why do people line up for Labubu? Why do people buy Sonny Angels? Why do people collect Crocs charms? It's not because they need them. It's because they're conversation starters.
The Fuggler becomes a physical extension of Defend Your Order.
Campaign Execution 04
Confess Your Order Day
A social holiday where fans post their order and defend it.
A national day for fans to confess, and get rewarded.
Success Metrics
“Many repositioning concepts start by changing the brand. This one starts by changing the relationship between the brand and the conversation.”