The Hoff Returns in Cumberland Farms Iced Coffee Promo

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- It's summertime and that means America's favorite lifeguard is back.

For the second straight summer, Cumberland Farms Inc. is teaming up with actor and singer David Hasselhoff of "Baywatch" fame to promote its iced coffee drinks.

The "Iced Hoffee" campaign created a frenzy last summer with customers stealing the giant cardboard displays showing Hasselhoff with a cup of iced Farmhouse Blend coffee. Fans not only stole the signs, but then took to social media sites where they posted photos of the Hoff at concerts, apartments and even weddings, according to the Boston Business Journal. The 2012 campaign also featured television advertising.

Marty Donohue, a partner and co-creative director at Full Contact, said it became clear pretty quickly in discussions with Cumberland Farms that the 61-year-old star should return for another "Iced Hoffee" campaign this summer.

Gwen Forman, vice president of marketing at Cumberland Farms, said because hundreds of signs were stolen last year, the company ordered extra signs this year to have a "substantial buffer, just in case."

In addition to in-store displays, this year's campaign includes an original song, "Thirsty for Love," and a video with Hasselhoff performing. A team at Full Contact wrote the lyrics to “Thirsty for Love,” while Asche & Spencer of Minneapolis provided the music. The video was produced by Boston-based Redtree, and post-production work was done by Peel & Eat in Boston, according to the report.

"You can't not smile when you look at this thing," Donohue said. "The hope is that everybody in New England is singing that song by the end of the summer."

In a review of the best and worst ads of 2012 by Boston ad agencies, the Boston Globe named Cumberland Farms' marketing approach featuring Hasselhoff among the hits of the year, as CSNews Online previously reported.

Framingham, Mass.-based Cumberland Farms operates approximately 600 convenience stores across 11 states. 

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