Cracking PR stunt: Wallace and Gromit-inspired Pancake-omatic created to mark Shrove Tuesday

Standing out amidst the plethora of Valentine’s Day PR campaigns, a machine that makes pancakes from recently laid eggs has been developed, to celebrate Shrove Tuesday.

The machine promises the world’s freshest pancakes, taking its cue from a free range hen laying an egg to start a very cool chain reaction, like something Doc from Back to the Future might create.

The Pancake-omatic was commissioned by the happy egg co., taking a team of four design engineers from Helix design production more than 200 hours to construct and a further 100 to test. It uses household objects, including an old-style gramophone and an electric whisk, and features a ‘luxury nest throne’ for the hen to lay her egg in.

From the press release:

The pancake-making process starts with the hen laying an egg. As the egg rolls down a ramp, it pushes a wooden spoon, which winds up a gramophone. When the music starts, the egg is dropped into a holder on the spinning record, then swung around and cracked into a bowl containing other pancake ingredients. The bowl moves down a conveyor belt where the mixture is whisked and then released slowly into a hot pan. The pancake is cooked for 30 seconds, flipped and placed on a plate.

The contraption will go on display at the Design Museum later this month, and is shown in action in the video below:

Involved agency: Mischief PR

Topical