Leonardo DiCaprio’s Girl Scout cookie face boosts troop’s sales
A group of entrepreneurial Girl Scouts from New York are using Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar win to sell their Thin Mints and Trefoils. The Girl Scouts of Suffolk County made a poster using a picture of DiCaprio eating the cookies as a marketing tool. Credit: Morgan Caufield
When actor Leonardo DiCaprio got his first Oscar last month, a Miller Place girl scout troop leader Morgan Caufield and her daughter Molly got an idea — one that’s earned their troop national attention.
Troop 227 was looking for a creative marketing technique for an upcoming Girl Scout Cookie sale, their last of the season, and found it in an image of DiCaprio they found online enjoying a box of the cookies at the Oscars.
A photo of the poster they created gained traction online and has been featured on ABC News and the Today Show. When the official Girl Scout Cookies Facebook page posted it, the photo received more than 60,000 likes and 17,000 shares.
“My husband mentioned to my daughter Molly that Chris Rock had his daughter selling Girl Scout Cookies” at the Oscars, Caufield, 44, said. “They wanted to do something to use that publicity.”
DiCaprio was an easy pick — aside from the fact that he won his first Oscar after years of nominations, Caufield said: “Look at the way he was looking at the cookie!”
The troop printed a picture of the actor and combined it was another social media meme to create a poster that read, “This is Leo. Leo wants an Oscar. Leo buys Girl Scout Cookies at the awards. Leo wins an Oscar. Leo is smart. Be like Leo.”
Caufield said that as soon as the troop’s 12 4th grade members put up the sign at Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove on Tuesday, customers began to take notice. Some took pictures, some paused to laugh and many ended up buying cookies when approached by the 9- and 10-year-old scouts.
“A lot of people have a hard time saying no,” Caufield said.
The most popular cookies weren’t the shortbread Trefoils DiCaprio was eating, she added — Thin Mints and Tagalongs, chocolate covered cookies with mint and peanut butter flavors, were the best sellers.
Caufield posted a photo of the poster on Facebook, hoping to give other troop leaders an idea for their sales. The picture bounced around on social media from there.
Christine Terzella, spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County, said the GSSC encourages their 2,500 member troops to get creative with cookie sales.
“I’m sure it will be inspiring and other girls will do the same,” Terzella said of the DiCaprio poster.
The poster worked because the troop took a notable moment and quickly capitalized on it, Terzella said.
“It was really fresh in people’s minds,” she said. “It’s a great way to promote the sales, tying into the pop culture.”
Troop 227 is done with booth sales for the season, but other troops are selling cookies through May.
Caufield said it was a good way for the troop to end their season, and the girls are very excited about the media attention.
“They are eating it up,” she said. “They love it.”
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