Our Take on Easter Eggs.
How Easter Eggs found their way into marketing and pop culture.
The tradition of Easter Eggs is rich with ancient symbolism, cultural practices, and religious significance. Dating back thousands of years, eggs have been revered as potent symbols of fertility, rebirth, and the cycle of life in many cultures around the world.
In the world of marketing and pop culture, Easter eggs aren’t chocolate treats hidden around the yard or home—they’re little surprises tucked into designs, movies, and paragraphs for keen-eyed observers to discover and enjoy, like their chocolate egg counterparts.
Easter Eggs in Branding
We created the branding and packaging for Durwell, a natural equine supplement company founded in Langley, BC. The Durwell icon features a horse and leaf, cleverly forming the letter “D”. It delighted us when, during the initial presentation of this design, one of Durwell’s founders gleefully pointed out that the logo’s crest shape incorporated an upward-facing horseshoe, symbolic of good luck. Durwell is doing well and we credit the lucky ‘Easter Egg’.
– Morgan Downie, Lead Designer at Pear Agency
Easter Eggs in Presentations
The pain and suffering of those who review responses to public sector RFPs must be unbearable. I imagine they look at dozens of 30-page documents per tender. Our empathetic bones kicked in so we added a page, about 15 pages into our proposal, with a picture of a puppy and these mindful words: ‘Should you need a mental break from reviewing dozens of RFP responses, please refer to this puppy.”
– Sydney Downie, Lead Designer at Pear Agency
Easter Eggs in Copy
At a previous agency I was asked to provide my Bio for the White Spot pitch deck. I thought I would test to see if it was vetted by my business partner at that time so I added this at the very end: “Bill is also extremely handsome.”
He read it and, unbeknownst to me, decided to leave it in. This became clear to me in a meeting when, after I introduced myself to the White Spot marketing team, one of them said; “Oh, you’re the extremely handsome one.” The laughter broke the ice but we did not win the business. Perhaps I overpromised.
– Bill Downie, Brand Strategist / Creative Director at Pear Agency
Easter Eggs in Movies
Have you ever noticed that the carpet in Toy Story is the same as the carpet in the classic tricycle scene in The Shining? I did. OK, maybe I read it somewhere, but I was compelled to confirm that it was true.
Movies are filled with pop culture references, adult only one-liners, and trendy products that are tastefully sewn into the scene, unlike many blatant product placements. I applaud the added element of discovery and surprise in films and enjoy finding them, when I can.
– Jake Downie, Customer Success at Pear Agency
Easter Eggs at Street Level
One of my favourite ambient experiences (although I have not seen this live) is the 107’ long LED video wall in the lobby of their flagship San Francisco office. As if it were not enough to have accomplished this spectacular experience, they added some Easter Eggs, in the form of a small man walking up the side of a tree in the forest scene. It is wonderfully decompressing but a good thing that I don’t work anywhere near that building because I would be sitting there every day. Looking for Easter Eggs.
– Jordy Le, Designer / Production Artist at Pear Agency
Finding Easter Eggs, in the brand touchpoint sense, brings delight and will turn any brand experience into a memorable one.
How many Pears did you find in the blog garden image?
Morgan Downie is a Lead Designer at Pear Agency, Vancouver, Canada.
