Eric André’s cheeky ad for the candy brand hits competitor Reese's in its sweet spot.
In a stroke of brilliance, Snickers has pivoted from its longtime tradition of using absurdity to address hunger-related personality changes, opting instead to target a direct competitor with namesake participants as it seeks sweet victory in the peanut butter candy category. In Peanut Butter Focus Group, created by longtime agency of record BBDO and directed by comedian and actor Eric André, seemingly routine focus group sessions that feature unbiased participants sampling the Mars-owned brand’s new peanut butter products quickly go awry when they discover they are all named Reese. Hilarity ensues as they realize they’ve been lowkey duped by the moderator into taking a jab at Reese’s — the Hershey-owned brand long dominant in the space. This work checks a few boxes: a sly callback to previous stunts in which brands use people with the same name as their competitor in their ads as a mock endorsement, a great use of existing name recognition to disrupt the space, a memorable way to introduce a product (and potentially start an epic battle of the candy brands) and a great equalizer for aficionados who stand firmly on one side of the “chunky versus smooth” peanut butter debate. Mainly, it’s just fun and smart marketing, and we love to see it.
