To coincide with the start of the Paralympics, Mars is rolling out a new Maltesers campaign that champions diversity and disability and leverages the £1m of free advertising that it won when it scooped Channel 4’s ‘Superhumans Wanted’ prize.
Running under the brand’s ongoing ‘Look On The Light Side’ idea, a set of three spots were initially posted on Mars’ digital and social channel on 2 September and the ads will debut on air in an exclusive launch spot during the first break of the 2016 Rio Paralympics Games Opening Ceremony on Wednesday, 7 September.
That ads will air initially using British Sign Language and with no subtitles.
The roots of the campaign lie in Channel 4’s April ‘Superhumans Wanted’ initiative (which ran head of the broadcaster’s core ‘We’re The Superhumans’ campaign – see case study) – which aimed to break down the taboo surrounding disability.
This saw the UK’s official Paralympic broadcaster stake £1m worth of commercial airtime as a prize to encourage brands and media and creative agencies to ‘prominently feature disability and disabled talent’ in their advertising campaigns (see case study).
A key strand of Channel 4’s ‘Year of Disability’, the slots were given to what a Channel 4 panel considered to be the strongest campaign idea.
From the 90-odd entries submitted to the competition, Channel 4 chose a Maltesers idea from Mars Chocolate UK and its creative agency AMV BBDO.
The three 30-second ads star four disabled actors celebrating awkward situations (and interacting with a packet of Maltesers) and are based on real-life stories from disabled people.
The 30-second scenes are based on real-life stories from disabled people. In one video, a woman with cerebral palsy shares an embarrassing moment with her ‘New Boyfriend’,
while another sees a woman in a wheelchair recount a story about running over the bride’s foot on the ‘Dance Floor’ at a wedding,
while the third spot revolves around a deaf woman describing how her friend ‘Theo’s Dog’ swallowed her hearing aid.
Creatively the spots dovetail neatly with the brand’s ongoing ‘Look On The Light Side’ work – such as.
Poor Barney the dog isn't quite himself! Learn why the lighter way… #LookOnTheLightSide pic.twitter.com/Gi9tXeQhcR
— Maltesers UK (@MaltesersUK) 26 May 2016
In our latest ad, two doctors take a lighter attitude to a disastrous wardrobe malfunction. #LookOnTheLightSide pic.twitter.com/bqMNVBLvJx
— Maltesers UK (@MaltesersUK) 17 May 2016
Mars Chocolate UK’s VP of marketing Michele Oliver confesses that the company previously ‘did not fully represent the diversity of the consumers who buys and enjoys its brands’.
‘There was an unconscious acceptance [of the status quo]. This is not just true of Mars but the rest of the industry. We now wanted to take some steps forward.’
Through these new spots, Maltesers aims to show that humour is a powerful force for positive change and that the approach will help overcome taboos and break down barriers surrounding disability.
The campaign was developed with real people, disability charity Scope, Maltesers’ marketers and an AMV BBDO team led by Tim Riley and Dave Buchanan.
The spots were directed by Clay Weiner through Biscuit, while MediaCom ran media planning and buying.
Comment
Maltesers and Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO won from a competition shortlist that included entries from Amazon (Lucky Generals); Barclays (Bartle Bogle Hegarty London); Dove (Ogilvy & Mather); H&M (Adam & Eve/DDB); Lloyds Bank (Adam & Eve/DDB); Lynx (TMW Unlimited); and Purdey’s (Iris Worldwide).
Indeed, Channel 4 sales director Jonathan Allan said: ‘The calibre of competition entries demonstrated that the UK ad industry can be world-leading in improving representation of disability in advertising.
‘We hope that Mars Chocolate UK and AMV’s bold ambition for these cheeky ads using Maltesers signature format which TV viewers already love, will create a legacy for our Superhumans Wanted initiative, and alongside our latest Paralympics ad, encourage more brands and agencies to approach and cast their campaigns in new ways to make richly diverse ads the norm rather than the exception.’
Alongside the Maltesers ads, Channel 4 will also air Paralympic-themed ads from Sainsbury’s, Samsung and Nissan in the first ad break of the opening ceremony.
Statistics from the disability charity Scope show that a massive 80% of disabled people ‘feel underrepresented by TV and the media’.
Channel 4, Mars and Oliver herself all believe that it is now time for marketers to unite and ‘change the face of communications’..
And where better to start than at the Paralympics?.
‘This is not a competitive play, as we believe the whole industry needs to embrace diversity. Unilever is particularly strong. At Mars we want to issue a rallying cry and look at how we can change the face of communications so we represent the face British population in all its diversity,’ add Oliver.
A Mars PT statement says the new spot series ‘just the first step of its journey to champion diversity’ and that the company is looking to adapt how its casts its marketing assets in the future.
‘We now have a different casting brief that we give to our agencies. We want to widen the doors and encourage all diversity, whether that’s ethnicity, disability or any other aspect,’ continues Oliver.
‘We need to bring in a lot more diversity when it comes to the way we represent family advertising. ‘Successful ads are entertaining, talked about and help us sell more Maltesers. If all those things happen [with our three ads], we will continue to use them beyond the Paralympics.’
Links
Maltesers YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQGsibk3lplgFU-y0D9D8Jg
Maltesers Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Maltesers?rf=101875313187722
Maltesers Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MaltesersUK?lang=en-gb
Maltesers Web:
Mars Chocolate UK:
http://www.mars.com/uk/en/brands/chocolate.aspx
Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO:
MediaCom:
Scope:
