Skittles stays weird in new global campaign

A magical Skittles rainbow that gets broken. A tiny dude stuffed into a weird wall closet. Giant trench-coated pigeons pecking Skittles off the ground. The candy brand's commercials remain as weird as ever in TBWA\Chiat\Day New York's new global campaign—targeting non-U.S. markets from Europe to Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. According to the agency: "The new work is designed to have the look and feel of the current U.S. campaign, but at the same time it will rewind the clock to earlier, more elemental Skittles work." The first three spots focus on "the idea of the rainbow and draw literal connections between the candy and the rainbow." One ad is below; two more after the jump.

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Filed under Candy, Nudd, Skittles, TBWA
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BBDO puts Skittles videos at your fingertips

The Skittles team at BBDO Toronto have put together another randomly wacky campaign. This time, they've figured out a cute and appropriately juvenile way to get you to physically interact with YouTube videos on your screen. Place your finger on the screen, and watch as it gets licked by cats, stops a robbery, wages war, hitches a ride (that's your thumb, technically) and upsets your Skittles-coated girlfriend. Of course, each video has a little twist. Directed by Woods & Low of FamilyStyle and edited by Griff Henderson of Posterboy Edit, the whole thing is called "Touch the Rainbow," and just like a blended fruit Skittle, it goes well with the U.S. work. Good thing, too. Thanks to the internet, my American friends have already got their grubby fingers all over it. Four more ads after the jump.

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Filed under BBDO, Canada, Candy, Cullers, Skittles
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Starburst eaters painfully inept as criminals

Starburst continues its "Contradictions" campaign, playing up the solid yet juicy nature of the candy, with this new spot featuring a very slow getaway-car driver inching through traffic after a bank heist. "I can't seem to shake 'em," the guy says, as a cop on foot keeps pace beside the vehicle. It's a cute ad, but not as outrageous, memorable or worthy of repeat viewings as previous entries (which featured Scottish Koreans and the living dead). Actually, that cop's moving at a fairly brisk pace compared to the dough-guts in my neighborhood, who generally snooze behind the wheels of their cruisers in no-parking zones. Kidding, of course. The boys in blue can really move, especially when they're behind on their weekly ticket quotas. By the way, how did the hood in the backseat pop a Sweet Fiesta Starburst into his mouth with a stocking over his face? Talk about a contradiction. I mean, with fishnets, maybe—but with that sheer number he's sporting, no way!

Filed under Candy, Gianatasio, Starburst, TBWA
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Skittles: If you love your blender, set it free!

A man sets his beloved old blender free—only to have it disastrously return—in this latest amusing piece of Skittles oddvertising from TBWA\Chiat\Day in New York. The spot is for new Skittles Blenders, which apparently feature two flavors blended together in each piece. It's hard to keep up with the Skittles brand extensions (the whole Tube Sock thing last year was for Fizzl'd Fruits), not to mention the various wacky promotions the brand has going on constantly. Just check out the latest incarnation of Skittles.com. It's literally never-ending, and surely hours of fun for all the "rainbros" out there.

Filed under Candy, Nudd, Skittles, TBWA
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Men trapped in giant fists in new Skittles ad

TBWA\Chiat\Day in New York continues its long-running Skittles oddvertising campaign with this "Clench the Rainbow" commercial, in which two guys daydream about escaping from the clutches of giant fists in the countryside. They fail. Such is life.

Filed under Candy, Nudd, Skittles, TBWA
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Hungry sharks enjoy Snickers-filled humans

Amusing new Snickers spot from BBDO—with really great voiceover work, in particular. It might not go over well with shark lovers or shark-attack victims, but thankfully, both of those demos are small. Implied death and dismemberment—just another day in candy advertising.

Filed under BBDO, Candy, Nudd, Snickers
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Man's squirrel hands cheat him out of candy

This candy commercial from Adventa Lowe in the Ukraine is another example of Eastern Europe's squirrel obsession. It follows that Russian anti-alcoholism PSA with the drunken squirrel. Maybe it's some kind of secret code for something? I don't know. I'm also not sure about this guy's genetics, because in order for his story to check out, his father would have been a squirrel with squirrels for hands. Which is possible, what with all that atomic testing the Soviets did, but still kind of a stretch. And that's not even going into what all this says about his mom. Via Ads of the World.

Filed under Candy, Europe, Kiefaber, Lowe
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Skittles makes videos of Facebook statuses

Skittles U.K. is all about the real-time Facebook stunts lately. A couple of weeks ago, they drowned a man in Skittles—dumping ever more candy on his head for each new Facebook "Like" they earned. Now, they're doing an interesting thing with Facebook status updates. The "Update the Rainbow" app encourages people to send in their status updates—which staffers at the (bogus?) "Skittles Call Centre" will read aloud for the camera, with the resulting video being posted on your wall. It's another fun idea, but once again, the execution is a bit lacking. The man-drowning-in-Skittles stunt suffered from a poorly lit, amateurish-looking set and a droning narrator. Likewise, here the call-center staffers are sorely lacking in personality. Overall, it reinforces what was so good about the Old Spice response videos: The concept was great, and the execution was even better. Via The Boston Egotist.

Filed under Candy, Europe, Facebook, Nudd, Social media
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Cadbury Fingers party on Earth and beyond

This fun, deliciously detailed U.K. spot by Adam & Eve positions Cadbury Fingers as the perfect candy "For the good times!" They rock out, figure skate and fly to the moon. It's all that sugar—pumps 'em up. As for the inevitable post-rush splashdown, well, here's finger food for those miserable, morose moments: Greenpeace's Kit-Kit orangutan bars. They're endangered, we're not. When I feel down, I remind myself of that. Via Campaign.

Filed under Adam & Eve, Cadbury, Candy, Europe, Gianatasio
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British man on verge of drowning in Skittles

Skittles U.K. is currently eight hours into a 24-hour live-streaming Facebook stunt in which it is dumping loads of the candy on a man in a tank—adding more every 15 minutes, based on the number of new Facebook fans it gets. The man, David Phoenix, appears to be screwed, given that the Skittles are almost up to his neck already. He has already been subjected to 1,128,500 falling Skittles, with lots more on the way. Skittles seems to be gaining plenty of new fans, but could have done a lot better by hiring David Blaine—since everyone knows the British just love to screw with David Blaine.

Filed under Candy, Europe, Facebook, Nudd, Skittles, Social media
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Snickers gets scary indeed in Halloween ad

This distressing "Grocery Store Lady" ad for Snickers doesn't compel me to buy candy so much as call child services. Those kids aren't right. They've got incredible balance, but they're not right. More to the point, who let someone dressed like that into the grocery store in the first place? BBDO may have failed Snickers with this ad, but more important, they've shown us that we're also failing our children. Via American Copywriter.

Filed under BBDO, Candy, Food and drink, Kiefaber, Snickers
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Kid afflicted with squirting Fruit Gusher eye

Here's the latest oddball candy advertising—a 90-second Fruit Gushers video from Saatchi & Saatchi (supposedly Gerry Graf's last piece of work for the agency) that tells the tall tale of Todd, a kid born with a squirting blue Fruit Gusher for an eye. The most recent Fruit Gushers spot was all about having problems gushing, but that's not an issue here. Todd happily unloads on family and friends (in a mostly un-Oozinator-like way, thankfully), though as the flash-forward scenes reveal, he will be stunted in other ways—a recurring theme in candy ads, from Starburst's Little Lad to the Skittles treeboy. It seems excessive to go a whole 90 seconds with this kid, though. The 30-second Fruit by the Foot stuff was better.

Filed under Candy, Fruit Gushers, Nudd, Saatchi & Saatchi
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Hairy hands always hunt for Cadbury candy

Publicis Mojo is behind the latest oddvertising candy ads—an Australian campaign that features the tarantula-like, disembodied "Hairy Hand," a feared predator that's out to steal your Cadbury Crunchie Rocks and Caramello Nibbles. "Maybe they do not bite, but they do pinch," says the voiceover, as we see a male Hairy Hand deliver a painful purple nurple to an office drone. A second spot, posted after the jump, features a female Hairy Hands, which are "five times more intelligent than the male Hairy Hand," with a nice manicure to boot. Via Illegal Advertising.

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Filed under Australia, Cadbury, Candy, Nudd, Publicis
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Kids say the darndest things in candy spots

Ad agency TBC goes the cute-kids-as-business-execs route in its first work for Haribo's Gold-Bears gummy candy. I was hoping this genre had cashed out after its stultifying appearance last year in ads for Friendly's. But here it is, run up the flagpole once more, with tykes acting out boardroom discussions about the product's colors, texture and flavors. Mirroring the adult white-collar experience, the "team" totally sucks up to the pint-sized CEO, until his mommy interrupts a meeting to remind the kid about "homework time" and completely undermines his authority. If Mark Hurd's mother had been around at Hewlett-Packard, maybe the malfeasant manager would have behaved! Sorry, allegedly malfeasant manager. Luv ya, Hurdy! Second spot after the jump.

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Filed under Candy, Gianatasio, Haribo's Gold-Bears, TBC
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Ostrich gets air in latest Cadbury confection

Cadbury goes the epic-animal route once again, tapping an ostrich (instead of an ape) in this spot by Saatchi & Saatchi in South Africa. Our hero, incapable of flight, launches itself out of a plane so it can finally soar. That's an impressive moment of personal growth for the bird, since raising its head from a hole in the ground is as close to enlightenment as these creatures usually get. PETA will probably complain and force the client to revise the clip using an invisible ostrich, which would probably spoil the overall effect. As for the brand message, well, if Cadbury made parachutes, it'd sure be a smart strategy!

Filed under Africa, Animals, Cadbury, Candy, Gianatasio, Saatchi & Saatchi
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Rainbow-eating giraffe is milked for Skittles

More crazy Skittles work, this time from SapientNitro in Russia. Here, a guy milks a rainbow-munching giraffe and happily ends up with a bucket of Skittles. (Copy: "Drain the rainbow. Taste the rainbow.") Skittles has done the milking thing before, with the notorious milked man who won't stop eating the sour Skittles. Via Copyranter.

Filed under Candy, Nitro, Nudd, Russia
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Spider hits above its weight in Mentos spot

In this U.K. Mentos spot by BBH, a guy interrupts a couch-cuddle to vanquish an eensy-weensy spider that has sent his gal-pal into spasms of uncontrolled shrieking (something our doofus loverboy is probably incapable of himself). But then the spider flips the guy around the room karate-style and sends him smashing through the furniture. Sorry to spoil the twist. But the tagline is, "It's better to know what's coming next." So, now you know.

Filed under BBH, Candy, Europe, Gianatasio, Mentos
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Living dead not impressed by Starburst ads

Starburst has been advertising itself lately as a contradiction—a solid candy that's also juicy, like a liquid. The idea was introduced last summer in a spot starring a Scottish Korean father and son, who, like Starburst, "don't make a wee bit o' sense." Now, the Scottish Koreans are back in the spot below, from TBWA\Chiat\Day, in which they fend off a mass-transit zombie who thinks "living dead" is the most noteworthy contradiction of all. The earlier spot provoked some odd reactions around the Web (e.g., "I think Korea and Scotland have a lot in common. Both have been invaded repeatedly by their neighbors, both have a reputation for loving the drink a bit, and both have slightly feminine native attire"). Perhaps they're counting on the living dead not to complain this time.

Filed under Candy, Nudd, Starburst, TBWA, Zombies
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Blue cat pressures dude to eat his Smarties

JWT in Toronto presents a blue talking cat for Smarties. The ad touches on several animal themes we've seen here on AdFreak of late. The cat has a weird accent, like the seal in that Irish radio-station spot. And there's a trippy mind-control vibe, à la Maynard the psychedelic moose. Now, humans generally don't need mind-controlling critters to make us eat candy. We'll do it voluntarily. With candies that taste good. Which, sadly, leaves out Smarties, which taste like they came packaged inside dead animals. Kidding, of course! Smarties are, I dunno, better than the crap they serve at Quiznos. Which, of course, has its own cat problem.

Filed under Canada, Candy, Gianatasio, JWT
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Psychedelic moosehead touts chewy candy

Chew-chew-chew, chew-chew-chew/Chew-chew-chew, chew-chew-chew. That's the annoying mesmeric refrain playing as a mounted moosehead with spinning eyes tries to hypnotize people into eating Maynards Wine Chews candies in this new campaign from Fallon London. One spot is below; see a second one after the jump. This is advertising's first moosehead of note since CareerBuilder's 2009 Super Bowl spot. I don't want to see the hindquarters of this animal, though, given the potent drug cocktail he's clearly ingested. When dead animals try to take over my mind, they usually drone on about getting revenge on humans ("shoot-shoot-shoot"). I've got to get these hunting trophies out of my cubicle.

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Filed under Candy, Fallon, Gianatasio, Maynards
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Robot kid defuses ungushing Fruit Gushers

In what is surely the single greatest robot-themed squirting-candy ad ever produced, Saatchi & Saatchi in New York sends forth a cap-wearing, metal-claw-tongued automaton to "defuse" a malfunctioning, non-gushing Fruit Gusher left sitting on a park bench. The bot looks like a cross between a typical class nerd and the uber-evil Davros from Dr. Who: goofy and scary at the same time. The earnest/tongue-in-cheek acting by the bomb-squad types is spot on, and the mother's mock-relieved reaction ("Oh, thank you, robot-child") is especially well delivered. Even knowing that the robo-kid will one day turn on his masters and kill us all can't stop me from gushing over this spot. Via Ads of the World.

Filed under Candy, Fruit Gushers, Gianatasio, Saatchi & Saatchi
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KitKat ad celebrates epic Wimbledon match

British marketers are doing a nice job of responding to breaking sports news this month. We saw the Specsavers ad themed to England's World Cup soccer loss. Now, we see this KitKat ad, which JWT London apparently whipped up within an hour of the completion of the marathon Wimbledon match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. See the full ad after the jump, with the payoff tagline, "Have a break. Have a KitKat." Campaign Live reports that JWT dispatched three ad-bikes to the Wimbledon grounds the next day to amuse the tennis fans there.

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Filed under Candy, Europe, JWT, Kit Kat, Nudd
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Inhumane experiments lead to pretzel M&Ms

It's hard to blame the orange M&M for his reluctance at having a "giant pretzel" shoved inside him. Can't imagine that would sit well with me, either. In the new commercial below, the creation of what could be a delightful snack is portrayed as a borderline horrifying act of scientific debauchery. Do the ends justify the means? I'm going to have some pretty conflicted emotions about eating 10 or 12 bags of these things in one sitting. Let's just assume I'm putting them out of their misery.

—Posted by David Griner

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Airheads select those worthy of eating them

Airheads has given up its whole balloon-head thing and launched new oddvertising for Airheads Xtremes (so extreme, they forgot the "E") with the tagline, "Devour the sour." The spots (one below, two more after the jump), by agency Curiosity, are less about devouring and more about a mystic convenience-store ceremony wherein packages of Airheads appear from nowhere and "choose" who will eat them. They fly off the counter and smack one of three guys in the chest. The chosen one then rejoices and rips into the package as lotus blossoms and jewel-encrusted narwhals explode around him. For some reason, a Sikh shop owner oversees the whole thing and announces, "The sour has chosen!" I'm fairly certain the Sikhs' deep belief in the equality of all men would conflict with this whole "chosen one" stuff. Head over to the Airheads microsite and enter to be "chosen" in a sweepstakes. The WTF factor is much lower than in either Skittles or Starburst commercials, but you can't claim they aren't trying for that sweet spot of inexplicable oddness that kids these days love.

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers

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Huge candy bars make very bad roommates

Cadbury's Boost had better be a good candy bar, because living with one would suck pond water. Check out these Australian ads (two more after the jump), and let's go down the list: Neglects bills? Check. Sore loser at Scrabble? Check. Chumps you out in front of hot girls? Big check. I wonder why his pansy roommate doesn't just eat him, since you know his name isn't on the lease. By George Patterson Y&R in Melbourne.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

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Filed under Australia, Cadbury, Candy, Kiefaber, Y&R
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