Last year, DDB Chicago brought Skittles to the Super Bowl for the second year with its “The Portrait” spot starring Steven Tyler, which our Adweek colleagues named one of the worst ads of the Super Bowl.
Last month we learned that adam&eveDDB would be handling the brand’s big game duties this year and the agency’s effort this year would avoid employing any aging celebrities—a decision we can fully support.
Instead, adam&eveDDB turns to a well-worn romance cliche: the lovestruck teen trying to attract the attention of his love by throwing rocks at her window in the middle of the night. Only, in this case, they’re Skittles and the girl would rather he keep throwing them so she can continue catching them in her mouth.
Because this is Skittles we’re talking about, things only get weirder from there.
It’s kind of refreshing to see a big game ad that doesn’t hinge on a celebrity. While this is probably not going to be anyone’s favorite spot of the big game, adam&eveDDB does an admirable job of mixing things up, while playing on a relatable trope that they gradually ramp up to Skittles-level surreality.
CREDITS
Client: Mars Wrigley Confectionery
Brand: Skittles
Project name: Romance
Agency: adam&eveDDB
Chief Creative Officer Richard Brim
Creative Director: Dan Fisher
Creative: Till Diestel
Agency producer: Matt Craigie Atherton (Head of Integrated Production), Cat Reynolds (Producer)
Planning: Jessica Lovell (Head of Planning), David Mortimer (Senior Planner)
Account Management: Fiona McArthur (Managing Partner), Robbie Black (Business Director), Brittany Lippett (Account Director), Matt Dankis (Account Director), Holly Fletcher (Account Manager), Josh Edwards (Account Manager)
Media agency: Mediacom/Starcom
Production company: Outsider
Executive Producer: Richard Packer
Producer: Eric Liney
Director: Harold Einstein
Cinematographer: Glynn Speeckaert
Editing Company: Work Editorial
Editor: Mark Edinoff
Post Production: The Mill
Colourist: Seamus O’Kane
Production Team: Alex Fitzgerald & Kirsty Ratcliffe
Audio Post Production: Factory Studios
Audio Engineer: Jack Hallett