Central Market is a Texas grocery store chain that hosts in-store events to promote specialty products. For their annual Hatch pepper event, we were asked to promote their eponymous Hatch pepper product, and its ability to be incorporated within food items across all departments. Partnered with Plot Twist Creativity, we delivered point-of-purchase posters, radio, video, and digital assets.

I devised the notorious “Chile the Kid,” a wild hatch pepper bandit who was on the run from New Mexico, and stormin’ through stores across the state. I created and hand-illustrated playful scenarios for the devious pepper—like stealing an Old West locomotive or bursting through a saloon’s swinging doors—across a series of in-store posters and digital advertisements. The “Most Wanted Pepper in the Southwest” is a master of disguise, and has been known to hide itself in limited-time offerings across all departments, such as Hatch Tortillas, Hatch Pound Cake, Hatch Queso, Hatch Chile, and Hatch Sweet Lime Cookies. Shoppers were encouraged to “Catch Hatch” in these limited-offering products while they could, for a reward of “Green Gold and Roasted Riches.”

The clients praised my inventive and humorous spin on the annual festival, which was celebrating its 28th year. The store teams had fun transforming the store into an old-west destination, hiding "Chile the Kid" along shelves, in product displays, and checkout lines. The campaign ultimately increased in-store traffic and sales, urging customers to "Catch Hatch" soon before the limited-time event ended.