Celebrating 50 years in distribution, HI-CHEW, the famous fruity chewy candy from Japan, was on the cusp of a U.S. breakthrough. The brand had secured strong national retail distribution and cultivated a passionate online fanbase known for hunting down elusive flavors, but despite that loyalty, mainstream awareness remained limited in the U.S. HI-CHEW wasn’t yet a household name; it was still in discovery.

At the same time, the return of HI-CHEW’s Mystery Mix pack, which had not been released for nearly a decade, created a rare and powerful opportunity to connect with consumers. For longtime fans, it was the comeback they’d been waiting for. For prospective loyalists, it was a blank canvas—one with mystery and allure centered around a top-secret flavor.

The challenge wasn’t simply how to relaunch the pack though. It was how to reintroduce HI-CHEW in a way that felt culturally electric, socially contagious, and impossible to ignore during the most competitive candy season of the year: Halloween. The brand wanted to find a unique way to move beyond traditional sampling to create a moment that would live both physically and digitally, simultaneously igniting buzz and brand excitement, driving organic content creation for consumers and influencers, and generating regional engagement around a flagship activation. The experience had to feel collectible, playful, shareable, and worth talking about, all while positioning the brand as more than candy.

Estimating that roughly a third of their customers are Gen Z, a third Millennials, and a third Gen X or older, the brand’s goal was to grow its share of younger generation customers as they increase spending power. Known as a generation that craves camera-ready experiences as much as the product itself, the primary target audience included Gen Z and the influencers who shape their feeds, while secondarily, HI-CHEW wanted to engage Millennials and their families who seek nostalgic, yet trend-forward treats. Here, the Mystery Mix would be the perfect hook: playful, unexpected, and just spooky enough to spark intrigue.

To reintroduce the HI-CHEW Mystery Mix, our team didn’t build a typical sampling booth; we built the HI-CHEW House of Mystery, a 20’x36’ immersive pop-up, designed as part fun house, part escape room. Here, candy wasn’t just tasted… it was the key to unlocking the unknown. From the moment guests approached the exterior, displaying elaborate designs of larger-than-life Mystery Mix bags, eerie skeletal trees, and flying bats (plus a mischievous Chewbie mascot presiding over the haunted façade!), guests knew this was not your average haunted house.

Inside, neon uplighting and blacklight accents transformed the space into a candy-coated fever dream. Participants journeyed room to room, each inspired by a signature HI-CHEW flavor and brought to life with interactive challenges and games. First, in Chewbie’s Laboratory, a neon-blue science lair pulsed with electricity balls, lava lamps, and beakers, an homage to Blue Raspberry from the Fantasy Mix pack. Next, the Candy Apple Room featured an overgrown apple tree photo opp and a test-your-strength game challenging guests to prove their power, before giving them the chance to sample the candy flavor from “forbidden apple” containers.

Transitioning into the Sweet & Sour Watermelon Room, this space glowed with an over-sized illuminated light peg wall and watermelon-rind designed floors, while HI-CHEW candies hung suspended from the ceiling, creating another surreal, photo-ready playground. Finally, guests entered the Mystery Room where a glow-in-the-dark flavor wall set the stage for the big reveal. Here, visitors battled for prizes at a branded claw machine, unlocking exclusive giveaways including keychains and stickers, before scanning a QR code to submit their final flavor guess. The answer? Cherry Lemonade.

More than an activation, HI-CHEW’s House of Mystery was a playful, high-energy adventure engineered to keep consumers exploring, competing, posting, and even chewing, amplifying brand affinity with a fun experience for all.

Several factors elevated the HI-CHEW House of Mystery from a seasonal pop-up experience to a culturally resonant moment. First, we leaned into HI-CHEW’s Japanese roots, tapping into the growing influence of Asian-inspired pop culture and collectible “mystery box” trends that Gen Z is already obsessed with. From blind-bag culture to viral toy crazes like Labubu, the thrill of not knowing is the hook. And by turning our House of Mystery into an interactive, unlockable experience, we mirrored behaviors consumers already love—discovering, guessing, revealing, and sharing.

Additionally, what made our program so successful was the level of detail and immersion included in our designs. This wasn’t a backdrop with product sampling. It was a narrative journey where each room felt distinct, unexpected, and sensorially charged. Candy became a clue. Flavor became a storyline. Guests didn’t just taste the Mystery Mix; they played their way through it.

Lastly, technology amplified every touchpoint. In addition to nostalgic electricity orbs and a good-old-fashioned photo booth, QR codes drove real-time flavor guesses and data capture. Our photo experience enabled instant text delivery to ensure nearly every piece of user-generated content was immediately shareable, while influencers further secured the life of the activation across social platforms. This multi-channel amplification strategy guaranteed the experience would travel well beyond its SoCal footprint.

Ultimately, what worked best was designing for participation over observation. By aligning cultural trends, immersive storytelling, and frictionless content sharing, HI-CHEW didn’t just create a pop-up. It created a moment people wanted to solve, savor, and show off.

The HI-CHEW House of Mystery didn’t just attract attention, it converted it. Over the course of three days, nearly 2,500 guests walked through the activation, with 72% falling within the coveted Gen Z and Millennial family demographic, plus an additional 18% representing Gen Alpha. Throughout the weekend, all 45,000 HI-CHEW samples were distributed, turning curiosity into trial at scale, while the photo booth experience also became its own engine of amplification. With 2,900+ photos captured, 1,400+ prints distributed, and 99% of users opting for text delivery, content moved instantly from the House of Mystery to personal feeds. In turn, a majority of attendees reported discovering the pop-up through social media—primarily on Instagram and Facebook—proving the experience and its impact traveled far beyond the physical footprint.

Lastly, the activation didn’t just drive awareness; it accelerated conversion and retail demand with eighty-five percent of guests expressing purchase intent after completing the experience, actively asking where to buy and redeeming coupons on-site, before the brand reportedly sold out of Mystery Mix packs before the Halloween holiday. Beyond metrics, the emotional response also told the story. Guests waited patiently in wrap-around lines, with one attendee even declaring, “This was worth the two-hour wait.”

The House of Mystery experience strengthened loyalty among existing fans, introduced new consumers to the broader flavor portfolio, and sparked demand for future HI-CHEW experiences—proving that when candy becomes culture, people line up for more.

Guests loved the experiential activation and the brand:

"I like how chewy and gummy this is."

"This was worth the two-hour wait. This was a great activation."

"Chewbie was so fun to take a picture with."

"This is so fun! I didn't expect a full mystery maze for candy!"

"Hi-Chew is my childhood favorite. I still buy it all the time."

"I guessed strawberry lemonade! Whatever it is, it's delicious."

"I love that you guys are doing this here. We need more pop-ups like this."

"I didn't even know there were this many Hi-Chew flavors. Now I want to try them all."

Check out our award-winning activation's case study HERE.