Before we release a list of all the winners for the 2016 Hermes Creative Awards on May 2, we’re showcasing select entries that stand out. Keep checking back to see if your work will be highlighted. Haven’t entered yet? There’s still time (until April 12)!

Organization: Gelia Client: Independent Health Foundation Location: Buffalo, New York Title of Entry: “Talking Vending Machine Prank” Category: 134c. Viral marketing social media campaign

How do you send a viral market through the stratosphere? You have to start with a great idea, but sometimes those can be hard to come by. Enter Gelia, an American marketing firm with international reach.

Gelia was recently approached by the Independent Health Foundation whose staff wanted to encourage young adults to eat right. One go-to food stop on a campus is a vending machine with not-so-healthy food, so Gelia placed five hidden cameras around one such machine at the University of Buffalo in New York for a day. They hired an improv actor to be the voice of the vending machine, and he challenged students on their food choices.

The effort resulted in three funny, informative viral videos that went national, garnering social and traditional media attention.