"Hunger keeps inventing new problems" is the first part of the tagline for Snickers Crisper, a new product extension from the Mars brand. But it's probably more accurate to say that BBDO keeps inventing problems which it then attributes to hunger, and which then get solved with Snickers products.
With this new Crisper campaign, the agency hopes to extend that so-far winning formula and build on the stellar year it had on the main Snickers brand in 2015.
The "You're Not You When You're Hungry" ads for the flagship brand have skillfully and comically played off issues of identity—which often translate wonderfully into visual punch lines. This new work, by contrast, mostly has fun with words rather than visuals.
The hyperbolic hunger scenarios in two new ads include a classroom setting and a job interview, where the famished folks act like complete knuckleheads. To describe what ails them, the ads blame combinations of hunger symptoms—the guys are "Confoolish" and "Dimpatient," respectively. (In this way, the new ads are linked most directly to the recent product packaging that replaced the word Snickers with hunger symptoms.)
Frankly, the results are fine, but not as rich as the always entertaining "You're Not You" work. The two TV spots are part of a campaign that broke Sunday on the Golden Globe Awards.
"Snickers is all about satisfying hunger, and we're excited to do that in a new and delicious way with Snickers Crisper," Allison Miazga-Bedrick, director of the Snickers brand, said in a statement. "Crisper delivers a new snacking option with a combination of textures [including crisped rice], so it only made sense to highlight combinations of hilarious hunger symptoms in our supporting campaign as well."
Fair enough, but the wordplay feels a bit like old news. Meanwhile, we'll have to wait and see what's in store for the main Snickers brand. With the energy BBDO brought to it last year, it wouldn't be surprising to see another strong year ahead.
CREDITS
Client: Snickers
Titles: "Figure Drawing," "Internship"
Agency: BBDO New York
Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Directors: Peter Kain, Gianfranco Arena
Creative Directors: Matt Herr, Justin Bilicki
Executive Producer: Amy Wertheimer
Music Producer: Melissa Chester
Business Manager: Paul Cisco
Account Director: Josh Steinman
Account Managers: Tani Corbacho, Nick Robbins
Account Executive: Jocelyn Choi
Production Company: Smith and Jones
Executive Producer, Line Producer: Philippa Smith
Director: Ulf Johansson
Director of Photography: Andrzej Sekula
Producer, Director, Woodshop: Trevor Shephard
Editorial Company: No6
Executive Producer: Cornia Dennison
Producer: Malia Rose
Editors: Jason MacDonald, Ryan Bukowski
Telecine Company: Company 3
Telecine Artist: Tim Masick
Producer: Rochelle Brown
Conform, Finish Companies: No7. MPC
Conform Artists: Ed @ No7; Marcus @ MPC
Producer: Bindy St. Leger
Visual Effects Company: MPC
Sound Design Company: Brian Emmerich
Mix, Record Company: Sound Lounge
Engineer: Tom Jucarone