TABASCO^® wanted to increase its fledgling opt-in list and learn a bit about its customers in the process. Bent was up for the task but wanted to take it one step further by offering users a free TABASCO^® screensaver - an incentive so fun and entertaining that they’d gladly give up some personal information for it. In the process, the client would get something so memorable and engaging, that users would not only keep it playing on their desktops for months to come, but would also forward it on to friends and family. In other words, free (and possibly endless) viral marketing and desktop branding for TABASCO^®.

Bent created the TABASCO^® Dancehall Screensaver – the first of several award-winning screen savers for TABASCO^® - and offered it as a free download to users who filled out a short customer behavior survey to determine product usage patterns. Users were also encouraged to opt-in to the TABASCO^® email list. The screen saver was a huge hit - over 18,000 users completed the survey and roughly 75% of those users subscribed to the email list. The free screensaver incentive resulted in the single biggest infusion of members to the opt-in list –ever – and the survey garnered valuable insight into users’ knowledge and usage of TABASCO^® line extensions. The survey was eventually removed from the site, but since that time, the screensaver has produced over 500,000 downloads (not including the viral marketing component) and was one of the original success stories of desktop branding.

Our famous TABASCO^® Louisiana dancehall screensaver rocks to the tunes of Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers. With colossal characters and amazing animation, it's got everything from dancing gators to giant nutria (fun, furry critters that came to Louisiana thanks to the McIlhennys – makers of TABASCO^® brand Pepper Sauce). Not to mention Congo lines, an eating contest and an old geezer making music with a washboard and a spoon.