From the outside of its cage, it is the most ordinary of household animals: a hamster. But unbeknownst to its owner, there is something remarkable about this pet.
A musical hamster is the unusual star of a new campaign from Pringles, which promotes its new Multigrain range with the tagline “wonderfully different.” Created by agency Grey London, the ad draws an unexpected parallel between the brand’s Multigrain chips and a hamster that composes songs on a tiny keyboard.
After launching its trio of healthier Multigrain flavors in September, Pringles is giving a marketing push to the range this year to attract more consumers.
The brand wanted to convey that Multigrain is “just like a normal Pringles chip, but slightly different,” said David Wigglesworth, executive creative director of Grey London. “We didn’t need to over-claim; we just needed to spark intrigue. That’s where we landed on the idea ‘Same, yet wonderfully different.’”
The ad is set in a young man’s living room, where he and two friends are sitting on a couch trying Multigrain Pringles for the first time. One of his friends observes that the chips are “wonderfully different”–just like his hamster.
Yet somehow, the man has never before noticed that his hamster is a little weird. He turns to his pet’s cage again as if seeing it for the first time. Inside, a curtain parts and a stage rises from the litter as electronic music begins to play. In the center of the small stage is the hamster, giving an emotional performance on his keyboard.
“We wanted to find something that was instantly relatable … then give it a ‘wonderfully different’ twist,” Wigglesworth explained. “In this case, it was the pet hamster that has lived in the corner of every house across the country. Only this guy has a life and a soul. He is a performer, a savant–definitely not your normal hamster.”
While many brands use animal mascots in their advertising for an instant cute factor, Pringles and Grey took it a step further. The agency created miniature gig posters for “Synth Hamster” and fly-posted them around London and on social media to tease the campaign. Later, the rockstar rodent also plans to release an album.
The ad will run on U.K. TV, online and social media. Jeff Low directed it through production company Biscuit Filmworks.
“People are increasingly conscious about what they eat, but they don’t want to give up on taste which remains the #1 category driver. The new Pringles Multigrain range opens up a new taste dimension, and this fun and surprising campaign is sure to spark curiosity and trial,” Elena Mancini, marketing manager for Kellogg’s EU, said in a statement.
CREDITS:
Client: Pringles
Creative agency: Grey London
Global chief creative officer: Javier Campopiano
President & chief creative officer: Laura Jordan Bambach
Executive creative director: David Wigglesworth
Global group creative directors: Christopher Lapham, Aaron McGurk
Creatives: Christopher Lapham, Aaron McGurk, Cameron Sutherland
Design: Christopher Lapham, Aaron McGurk
Agency planning partner: Lee Barber
Agency strategy director: Gilliam Caldwell-Dunn
Managing partner: Agi Varanyi
Group business director: Tamsine Foggin
Account director: Alice Ashwell
Agency executive producer: Nazneen Read
Agency senior producer: Anthony Borkett
Assistant producer: Angel Nkomo
Agency project manager: Elly Knott
Media agency: Carat
Planning partner: Greg Paterson
Market planning director: Chantelle Townsend
Account director: Becky Linares
Planner: Oli Rose
Production company: Biscuit Filmworks
Production company producer: Kwok Yau
Production company executive producer: Rupert Reynolds-MacLean
Director: Jeff Low
D.O.P: Matthew Emvin Taylor
Production design: Ollie Hogan
Edit house: Shift Post London
Editor: Saam Hodivala
Edit post producer: Kirsty Oldfield
Edit assistant: Adam Buckmaster
VFX studio: Untold Studios:
VFX CD: Ben Cronin
VFX supervisor: Rebecca Clay
Lead artiste: Tom Moreland
VFX artists: Rich Harris
VFX producer: George Reid
VFX executive producer: Ian Berry
Color: Untold Studios
Colorist: Julien Alary
VFX executive producer: Ian Berry
Music composition: Jeff Low
Sound studio: Gramercy Park Studios
Sound engineer/head of audio: Zak Kurtha
Executive producer (sound): Richard Donaghue
