This Relatable Kit Kat Ad, While Unofficial, Is a Master Class in the Power of Simplicity

LONDON—Ad industry pioneer Bill Bernbach famously argued that to be effective, advertising needs to get to the essence of something its audience knows to be true.Those words have rung true again this week after an ad, created as a mockup on spec for Kit Kat, went viral among ad industry professionals. The insight? That people spend increasing hours on Zoom work calls. And, crucially, they need a break. It works beautifully because you don't even need the [tagline]—everybody knows that it's, 'Have a break.'—Sam Hennig, the ad's creator British creative strategist Sam Hennig submitted the concept via One Minute Briefs, a U.K. creative project that calls for rapid responses to briefs. Sometimes these are on behalf of a client, and other times—such as with this brief—the challenge is created "for fun," said founder Nick Entwistle. The idea is to help give creatives a platform for ideas. This is the concept that Hennig created in response to a call for creatives to market their favorite confectionery brands: It's a clever play on Kit Kat's famous slogan—"Have a break. Have a Kit Kat"—which in the U.K. is so renowned, the ad didn't need to mention it. The ad has been shared and liked thousands of times on LinkedIn and Twitter by many ad industry creatives and chocolate fans. Kit Kat spotted the work and sought permission from Hennig to share the ad across its social channels, specifically promoting it in the U.K., Germany and the Czech Republic. Hennig believes the ad resonated because of its relevance with an audience juggling the demands of working remotely. https://twitter.com/kitkat/status/1361341423010930693?s=21 A simple idea that reflects reality "It's not always the case, but more often than not a simple idea is what really resonates, as long as it taps into something that's true for people," Hennig added. "It needs to hang on some sort of insight or truth, and I think the reason this one resonated so well is that so many of us have been in this situation for a long time now where our calendars genuinely look like that." As for the execution, he felt the concept was perfect for a minimalist approach. "It works beautifully because you don't even need the [tagline]—everybody knows that it's, 'Have a break.' People see that and they've already written the copy themselves. You don't even need it on there," he said. "There's two points of relevance that people get straight away." The evolution of the idea The final ad wasn't his first iteration, Hennig told Adweek. He actually first began with the idea of a "block" of Cadbury's chocolate on a full calendar day, playing on the idea that people need to block out some "me time" from their hectic home working schedule and shared it on LinkedIn for feedback. It was freelance creative director at M&C Saatchi, Nicholas Tasker, who gave him the idea to make it specifically about Kit Kat, Hennig said. "He really helped me to form that idea," Hennig added, "It wouldn't be fair for me to say I did it all on my own." Hennig then decided to change the calendar so it was booked up with Zoom calls, making it ultra relatable. "I rewrote the ad again and did it with Zoom meetings and shared that on LinkedIn. It just blew up completely—it's been an absolute rollercoaster. I gained about 3,000 extra connections on LinkedIn," he said. Last year, Irish freelance copywriter Luke O’Reilly created an ad concept for Guinness that won wide praise from across the industry and social media, with many initially assuming it was a genuine ad for the brand. O’Reilly, who also created the idea for One Minute Briefs, designed a digital poster with a negative-space outline of a pint glass topped it with a cream-colored couch as beer foam. The design had “Stay at home” at the base. “The comments were just hilarious,” O’Reilly told Adweek from the West Cork home where he was sheltering with his parents at the time. “Loads of stuff like: ‘Guinness did it again! Masters of marketing! Guinness is great!'” Guinness agreed with the praise and shared the work on the brand’s official Instagram page.