Marketers love memes. Heck, we all do.

At their best, they're simple, visual moments of shared experience (in what is currently a very isolated world). Jumping on one in a timely way can help show that a brand is both paying attention and taking part in the real-time conversations that define internet culture each day.

The hard part of that equation is the "timely way."

The traditional content-creation process for brands isn't known for its speed, and with only a few exceptions, memes tend to rise and fall faster than you can say, "Are you sure we need to run this through legal?"

But Adidas Originals shows the value of making the effort to jump on a trend before everyone else moves on. The brand created hyper-realistic sneakers made from cake, which were given out in limited quantities in London.

As Adweek's London-based writer, Sara Spary, notes, the stunt takes advantage of the recent "Everything Is Cake" meme, in which baking-savvy video creators have made cakes so convincingly detailed, they look like almost any household item.

Clocks, fruits, small appliances—anything could be cake in a social video these days, making you doubt the very reality around you.

Check out how Adidas found the perfect way to jump on this moment of culinary deception  to promote the Adidas Originals ZX 2K Boost.

David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
david.griner@adweek.com

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