Mars Previews New Rivalry-Themed Twix Campaign From BBDO

Mars, which is being honored as the 2012 Advertiser of the Year at the Cannes Lions festival here, took the opportunity to preview the upcoming global Twix campaign for the press on Friday afternoon. Beginning with a grandly produced and wryly comic 60-second TV spot, the campaign is based around the idea of a rivalry between the two Twix bars.

The first spot, which was screened on Friday (but is not yet posted online), is a humorous period piece that presents a ludicrous origin story for the product. It involves two Victorian dandy inventors who invent a single-bar Twix, but are constantly fighting over it—so they split up and create their own factories, each making their own bars.

"Try both, and pick a side," says the tagline at the end.

The first spot launches in the U.S. and Germany next month before rolling out globally. More spots will extend the story about the two Twix factions, backed by a broad multimedia effort. Digital elements, for example, could extend the idea of a rivalry by featuring two competing websites, two competing Facebook pages, and so on.

"We're always look for a creative tension that the brand can solve," said David Lubars, chairman and chief creative officer of BBDO North America. "The product is two fingers inside a Twix bar. They're identical. But we thought we'd tap into the human insight that people love competition and rivalry, and we decided to ask you to pick the left one or the right one as your favorite."

Lubars introduced the campaign with Bruce McColl, global chief marketing officer at Mars Incorporated, as well as BBDO CEO Andrew Robertson. Also present was Chuck Brymer, CEO of Mars's other Omnicom agency, DDB.

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