As a sponsor of The Football Association (The FA) and The Scottish Football Association (SFA), Snickers seeks to address the fact that this is #OfficiallyAwkward by trying to keep both England and Scotland fans sweet in a UEFA Euro 2020 campaign called ‘Bothlands’.
Launched at the start of June, the Mars Wrigley brand seeks to rise above the old rivalry between England and Scotland with a tongue-in-cheek campaign smothered in the chocolate bar’s faux embarrassment about being a partner of both national teams.
The campaign, created in partnership with Octagon, sees Snickers bring both teams together in a hero spot which shows a team of players from either side standing shoulder-to-shoulder and begrudgingly setting aside their differences for a show of staged blue-and-white unity (while shaking their heads and staring at the turf in front of rowdy fans).
Directed by Glenn Kitson (who himself happens to be half English and half Scottish), the lead ad comes ahead of the two sides playing one another on 18 June in the tournament’s opening group stage and parodies the international tournament tradition of forcing both teams to line up together in a show of unity and togetherness.
The spot is supported by a social strand which encourages the retractment of controversial opinions with the promise of a free chocolate bar running under the #DeleteYourTweetForATreat hashtag. The brand will launch the ‘SNICKERS HOT TAKE HOTLINE’ to address all those terrible takes that are so common during major football tournaments and offer free chocolate to those willing to delete their suspect hot takes.
Introducing the Snickers Hot Take Hotline
Fed up with those dreadful football opinions you see on social media?
Follow the instructions below and we'll take it from there.#DeleteYourTweetForATreat #YoureNotYouWhenYoureHungry#Bothlands pic.twitter.com/7sS75vNGdD
— SNICKERS UK (@SNICKERSUK) May 25, 2021
“Let’s not beat around the bush, sponsoring both Scotland and England this summer is, well, rather awkward. Faced with this peculiar predicament, we decided there was only one thing to do – create our own, neutral nation: ‘Bothlands’,” explained Snickers Senior Brand Manager Chloe Smith. “The campaign was a lot of fun to make and marks the next step in our journey of cementing the Snickers brand as the voice of the football fan in Scotland and England.”
Octagon Executive Creative Director Josh Green added: “Snickers sponsor both England and Scotland. It’s an awkward situation. Oh yeah. But. Snickers had no choice but to support both. It’s a contractual obligation. Desperate times call for desperate measures. That’s Bothlands. An awkward solution to an awkward problem.”
The campaign was created by a team at octagon led by Creative Director Josh Green, Creative Alex Dew, Head Of Strategy Henry Nash, Planner Ed McKenna and an account team which included Gillian Snowball, Dan Russell, Josh Taylor and Tom Roche.
The production company was Octagon sister outfit Milkmoney with Director Glenn Kitson, MD Roz Barnfield and Producer Natalie Price, with VFX, animation and CGI handled by Motionbox Editor Pete Fullerton and media was run by MediaCom.
Comment:
Follows in the footsteps of the brand’s previous UK football-themed works such as its March 2021 ad with Liverpool FC manager Jurgen Klopp.
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