Waymo's Tasty Approach to Building Consumer Trust

Welcome back to The Friday Fortune! It’s August, which means we’re entering that magical time of year when summer Fridays are still a thing, but so is your Q3 panic. Whether you're plotting a late-season campaign or just trying to remember what day it is, we've got something better than your fifth iced coffee: marketing inspiration that actually hits.

Every week, we spotlight the boldest brand plays, creative curveballs, and data-backed wins that make you think, “Why didn’t we do that?”

This week’s feature proves that the experiencing future of transportation might just start with sesame chicken and a crunchy one-liner.

Let’s dive in. 

If there’s one brand redefining how trust is built around emerging technology, it’s Waymo. As the world’s first fully autonomous, 24/7 ride-hailing service — no driver, no small talk, just you and a self-driving electric vehicle — Waymo isn’t just selling transportation.

They’re selling a mindset shift.

That’s the marketing challenge: when your product feels like sci-fi, how do you make it feel safe, even familiar?

In an unconventional and brilliant play, Waymo teamed up with OpenFortune to roll out nearly 700,000 custom fortune cookies across Chinese restaurants in San Francisco.

These weren’t your average “you will meet a tall stranger” slips. They were bold, quirky, and unmistakably Waymo.

With every cracked cookie, diners were introduced to the idea that a driverless ride could be not only real but exciting. And because the slips came with QR codes, diners could dive deeper, turning curiosity into rides (and viral social shares).

The campaign wasn’t just charming. It worked.

• 74% unaided brand recall (up 31.9% from past Waymo campaigns)

• 11.7% searched for Waymo after receiving a cookie

• 7% shared their fortune on social media, adding up to 1.86 million impressions

• 67% of diners discussed Waymo after cracking the cookie

It also landed a glowing write-up in Fast Company, which positioned Waymo miles ahead of its closest competitor: Tesla.

The brilliance of this campaign wasn’t in the size of the spend, it was in the insight: the future feels less intimidating when it arrives in a warm, trusted, human moment.

Even if that moment comes with soy sauce on the side.

To explore how a crunchy snack changed the conversation around autonomous vehicles, check out the full Waymo x OpenFortune breakdown.

And if you want to learn about how OpenFortune can do the same for your brand, let’s find some time to chat.

🥠 The Cookie Jar

Crack open a handful of the week’s best marketing links—because good fortune favors the curious.

• The top 5 celebrity brand collabs you need to know about right now. Because apparently your wallet wasn't empty enough already.

• Bringing back the ‘Lipotle’ lip stain paid off for Chipotle. Finally, a lip product that can survive your third bowl of the day.

• Lunchables boasts its cool factor for back-to-school campaign. Nothing says "I'm still relevant" like 170 Reddit threads about your nostalgic lunch meat.

• San Jacinto College Cracking Open Doors to a Brighter Future with OpenFortune. Fortune favors the bold and the well-educated.

That’s a wrap for this week’s Friday fortune.

If you enjoyed the read, pass it along to your favorite marketer who could use a little extra inspo in their inbox.

Until next time, may your marketing be memorable and your cookies always be fortunate!

— The OpenFortune team