When is a Super Bowl commercial not a Super Bowl commercial?
When it is a Skittles ad that won’t be seen by the 100 million football fans watching the Big Game on NBC, but rather just by one single teenager in California.
It is, of course, supported by multiple teasers.
Skittles, the official candy of the NFL, launched its Super Bowl marketing early on 16 January – a full three weeks ahead of the Big Game – with a comic teaser trailing its 60-second Super Bowl spot that will be shown only to Marcos Menendez from Canoga Park, California.
The campaign’s mock newscast announcement video – called ‘Skittles’ Super Important Super Bowl News’ – explains that while we won’t be able to see the Big Game ad, we will be able to watch Mr Menendez’ reaction to the commercial which will be streamed live on the Skittles’ Facebook page.
The brand claims to have conducted an extensive search to find a fan to view the ad and the launch tease even offers up Menendez’ email address (@magikmarcos) to try and drive some interactive engagement.
It chose 17-year-old Menendez because ‘he’s a real Skittles fan’.
As well as a strong pre-campaign PR push, the announcement video debuted on YouTube and was amplified across Skittles’ US digital and social platforms: from Facebook and Instagram,
to Twitter.
Get ready for the epic Skittles Super Bowl ad that only @magikmarcos gets to watch! #SBLII pic.twitter.com/zSaBit5S18
— Skittles (@Skittles) January 16, 2018
The confectionery brand, working with its creative shop DDB, has also created four other teaser spots that will debut ahead of the NFL’s showpiece game (and which will reveal the big name celebrity will star in the spot that we won’t ever see).
That big name star is David Schwimmer: who hasn’t starred in a TV commercial for 23 years.
The former Friends actor stars in four 15-second teasers for the Big Game commercial that we’ll (supposedly) never see.
The social spot quartet sees Schwimmer play four different characters: each with a different sense of quirkiness (plus various wigs and moustaches) reflecting the brand’s ‘Taste the Rainbow’ positioning.
“I would never promote a product I didn’t actually enjoy myself,” said Schwimmer (who admitted to e embracing the chance to star in a Skittles ad and intrigued by the “funny and inherently subversive” idea.
Not even Schwimmer yet knows which of his characters will eventually be shown to Menendez.
“Not only do I not know, I’m not even going to see it,” says Schwimmer, who says he may try to convince someone to show him a cut of the chosen spot.
Skittles also plans to release a final documentary-style look at the campaign, without showing the actual ad, on the eve night of the Super Bowl or the following day.
“This year, Skittles is making the most exclusive Super Bowl ad ever,” said Mars marketing VP Matt Montei.
“We’re making an ad but we’re showing it only one single person. It’s on par with everything we’ve done in the Super Bowl over the last three years. It’s just that we’re only showing it to Marcos this year. For everyone else, though, what’s important to know, and what you’ll soon learn in a week or so, is that we’ll announce the celebrity [in the ad]. We’ll also have content in the form of four different teasers for everyone to view and speculate what that final ad might be, even though they themselves will not be able to view the final ad.”
“Every other advertiser is going out there and showing their ad to 100 million people,” added Montei.
“We want to be the one brand who has the most exclusive ad in Super Bowl history. That’s the focus of the campaign. That’s why there’s a lot of content beyond just the ad itself which is meant to start a dialogue, to speculate and to be highly entertaining.”
Comment:
Skittles claims that, at this point it has no plans to release the flagship ad following the Super Bowl.
Although the Activative team won’t be too surprised if this is a trick play.
Perhaps it will eventually be released ‘by popular demand’ if the campaign generates enough traction and the ‘hoped for’ public outcry to see the mystery spot is big enough.
Which seems a likely strategy.
This is a (potentially) clever way to get plenty of pre- and post-game cut through without having to compete amidst all the Super Bowl commercial clutter.
Skittles is the official candy of the NFL, while its fellow Mars Wrigley sister brand Snickers, the league’s official chocolate, will also sit out of this year’s game after its live commercial during the last Super Bowl (see case study).
It seems like M&Ms will be the only Mars Wrigley brand to air a genuine Super Bowl LII commercial this year: it launched a teaser for its Big Game spot on 16 January.
Skittles has a surprisingly strong football/NFL marketing heritage.
Not only is NFL super star Marshawn Lynch the brand’s best known US pitchman,
and this year’s gimmicky PR-led approach follows three consecutive Super Bowl appearances for Skittles: 2017’s ‘Romance’,
2016’s ‘The Portrait’,
and 2015’s ‘Settle It’.
This year it might be sitting out of an official Big Game commercial (and save itself $5m+ for 30-seconds on NBC), but it’s still playing the game from the sidelines.
Links:
Skittles
https://www.facebook.com/skittles
https://www.youtube.com/user/SKITTLESbrand
https://twitter.com/skittles
DDB
