The US Open Lemonade Stand

United States Tennis Association (USTA)

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The 7th Annual Awards

Nominee ✨

• Best Short-Form Video

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ABOUT THIS ENTRY

We set up a lemonade stand in the exclusive US Open Player Garden. As soon as it opened for business, adorable and unscripted interactions between the athletes and the kids running the stand were endless.

How does this represent "Excellence in Engagement"?

Player reaction was very favorable. As American pro player Tommy Paul said: “Who doesn’t want lemonade!?”

The US Open Lemonade Stand went viral (both online and offline) the day after the first video in the short-form series appeared on Instagram as ABC World News Tonight and The Today Show covered the activation.

In addition to the Player Garden, the Kidcasters from the Lemonade stand asked the first questions during the Champion press conferences. Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz both recognized the kids from the stand, creating a playful and sweet moment to cap off the series.

Objective

The goal was to create and capture authentic moments for social media between players and kids through the creation of a US Open Lemonade Stand. No script, just kids casually offering lemonade at the stand and the players being themselves in the relaxed atmosphere of the Player Garden.

Strategy & Execution

GoPro Cameras were fixed to the stand itself, while a manned camera was positioned out-of-sight to capture players' initial reactions to the Lemonade Stand before walking up to it. The ‘backseat’ that the filming process took on this activation is part of what made it so authentic and also a more comfortable experience for the participants by not having a camera directly in their face. 

Organizations

• United States Tennis Association (USTA)

Credits

Jonathan Zipper
Sr. Director, Social Media
United States Tennis Association (USTA)

Alyssa Simonin
Senior Manager, Social Media
United States Tennis Association (USTA)

Andrew Robinson
Manager, Social Media
United States Tennis Association (USTA)

Sarah Olson
Sr. Coordinator, Social Media
United States Tennis Association (USTA)

Paige Sterner
Sr. Coordinator, Social Media
United States Tennis Association (USTA)

Brian Beglane
Sr. Manager, Video Producer + Production Lead
United States Tennis Association (USTA)

Andrew Kaplan
Director, Video Services
United States Tennis Association (USTA)

Lisa Cradit
Managing Director, Head of Communications & Content
United States Tennis Association (USTA)

Christine Stromberg
Director, US Open Player Services
United States Tennis Association (USTA)

Mike Kelly
Director of Photography

Adam Corrigan
Audio Engineer

J. Aaron Dullas
Social Media Video Editor

Ben Casey Davis
Social Media Video Editor

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