Snickers Satisfies Need for People to Talk About Something, Apparently

Snickers has taken the idea of Coke’s personalized name labels a step further, introducing wrappers that feature hunger symptoms up front and center – in place of where the brand’s name used to be. First of all, wow, only a super strong brand like Snickers can pull off removal of their product name like this. Second, what’s all the fuss about?

The media has been coming down on this initiative, calling the new packaging offensive. I disagree. Sassy, sure. Clever, no doubt. Brilliant, possibly. But there are a lot of obvious offensive words that are missing from here. Had Snickers gone for Bitchy, Obnoxious, and Unbearable, then yes – I would say these are obnoxious.

Instead, the popular chocolate bar now allows people to admit what they are feeling when they reach for a Snickers – more than just picking up a snack, they are picking out the one that best expresses their own feelings. Of course, it also allows consumers to use a sugary snack to communicate to others…in a fun way.

Could someone be offended if they were offered a Snickers that said “Impatient” on it? Well, people can be offended by anything. And they’ll get over it, because people are usually less “offendable” once they’ve eaten. That’s what makes this so clever: Snickers has turned the benefits of what their product actually satisfies into a branding opportunity that will surely separate the product on shelf from its competitors. So really, these snarky wrappers represent some pretty sweet strategic thinking and execution. Heck, I’ll buy them just to give to people for a laugh – ring that up as an extra sale, Snickers.

~ Denise Blasevick, @AdvertGirl & CEO, The S3 Agency

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