Snickers get hangry

It is the season of all things sweet, from trick or treat to bonfire sweets, making us more perceptive than ever to our favourite brand’s campaigns and packaging. From halloween packets and cartons like our blog post ‘Halloween packaging…trick or treat?’ to brand’s sprucing up their campaigns to stand out from the crowd, which has never been as crucial in such a popular market. However, we’re seeing more and more brands adopt an opposite approach to their campaigns, looking at the negatives and spinning them back around on the audience. Interested to find out more? Take a look at Dieline’s article about a brand’s darker side that we highlighted as one of our top articles earlier this year.

This negativity trend has raised its head again and we’re noticing bigger companies take on this negativity reversal, like Snickers famous ‘Get some nuts’ campaign starring Mr. T, by continuing this trend even further, spicing up their packaging and audience intrigue with tongue in cheek humour that sees the confectionery giant use the old ‘honesty is the best policy’ approach by rebranding their identity with hunger symptoms. With a Disney Snow White and the Seven Dwarves feel, the bars use the ‘hangry’ feeling we all get and actively push you to share your bars with a grumpy, hungry friend, promoting and extending their ‘you’re not yourself when you’re hungry’ campaign.

We love the fact that the brand is such a well known identity now that they can change their main ident and name and still be recognised. A lovely, very simple and moreish idea that opens up the market to personalisation that make us want to collect numerous bars to save and give to that one friend that an expression describes. It also follows the clever personalisation trend adopted by other brands such as Coca Cola, making products collectable and individual but with a clever twist. Using a negative of an angry friend to promote their product, thus letting the audience create their own campaign. Very very clever, Snickers have definitely ‘got some nuts.’