Skittles: Deliver the Rainbow
TBWA\Chiat\Day Chicago was tasked with increasing Skittles sales and delivery app usage during the Super Bowl. The client needed to overcome the high cost of traditional broadcast advertising while maintaining the brand's reputation for surreal, disruptive humor. The goal was to drive immediate purchase behavior and record-breaking engagement among a younger, digital-native audience without relying on a standard 30-second television spot.
Creative Idea
The brand performed a live, surreal commercial on a fan's front lawn instead.
Skittles bypassed the traditional Super Bowl broadcast by performing a live, surreal commercial on a fan's front lawn, turning a standard delivery into an unmissable, fame-fueling event that drove massive sales and engagement.
Taking the Super Bowl to a Front Lawn
Surrealism Meets Logistics
Director Jim Hosking was specifically chosen for his signature brand of uncomfortable, off-kilter humor. To maintain the chaotic energy of the performance, the production team utilized a guerrilla-style setup that relied on real-time coordination with Gopuff logistics. The "magical horn" worn by Elijah Wood was a custom-fabricated prop designed to withstand the physical demands of the live performance, requiring multiple iterations to ensure it remained functional during the high-stakes, one-take broadcast.
Engineering the Viral Moment
The campaign relied on a complex digital infrastructure to handle the surge of traffic to *DeliverTheRainbow.com*. By integrating the campaign directly into the Gopuff API, the team ensured that the moment the "live" ad concluded, the conversion path was already open. This technical bridge was the primary driver behind the 256% increase in delivery volume. Unlike traditional spots that rely on passive viewership, this execution forced a direct-to-consumer transaction as the primary metric of success.
A Legacy of Anti-Advertising
This project serves as the spiritual successor to the brand's 2018 "Exclusive the Rainbow" campaign. While that earlier effort limited the audience to a single person, "Deliver the Rainbow" scaled the concept of hyper-exclusive marketing to a national level. By choosing to bypass the $8 million broadcast fee, the agency proved that a high-production, live-event stunt generates more earned media than a standard 30-second spot. The 2.84 billion impressions were largely fueled by social media users sharing the absurdity of the live feed, effectively turning the audience into the media buy itself.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Skittles leveraged its reputation for absurd, surreal humor to turn a delivery into a live, front-yard performance.
Category
Candy brands typically rely on expensive, high-production broadcast spots during major sporting events to reach mass audiences.
Customer
Fans crave authentic, shareable experiences that break the monotony of traditional, predictable advertising during the Big Game.
Culture
The rise of on-demand delivery apps and the desire for viral, social-first content made this experiential stunt highly effective.
Company
Skittles leveraged its reputation for absurd, surreal humor to turn a delivery into a live, front-yard performance.
Category
Candy brands typically rely on expensive, high-production broadcast spots during major sporting events to reach mass audiences.
Strategy:
Replace expensive mass-reach media with high-impact, localized experiential stunts to drive organic fame.
Customer
Fans crave authentic, shareable experiences that break the monotony of traditional, predictable advertising during the Big Game.
Culture
The rise of on-demand delivery apps and the desire for viral, social-first content made this experiential stunt highly effective.
Strategy:
Replace expensive mass-reach media with high-impact, localized experiential stunts to drive organic fame.
Results
The campaign achieved significant success, with Skittles sales up 81% on Gopuff and deliveries up 256% in one week, marking the biggest Skittles delivery day of all time. The campaign generated 2.84 billion earned impressions, 1,500 earned media placements, and 900,000 site visits.
81%
Skittles sales increase on Gopuff
2.84B
earned impressions
256%
delivery increase in one week
Strategy Technique
Break a Category Convention
The brand rejected the standard, multi-million dollar Super Bowl broadcast spot. By choosing to perform live on a lawn instead, they bypassed expensive media buys while generating massive earned media through disruption.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Unexpected environment
The campaign physically displaced a high-budget broadcast commercial into a private residential setting. This jarring shift from screen to lawn created an unforgettable, surreal experience that demanded immediate attention.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign excels through its highly creative experiential execution, turning a traditional Super Bowl commercial into a physical, live-delivered event.
Delivering a giant, functional retro TV to a family's front lawn to broadcast a live commercial is a masterclass in physical brand activation.
Elijah Wood's deadpan, highly dramatic performance as a bizarre mythical creature elevates the absurd script.
“The magic lies in the synergy between the physical experiential stunt of the giant TV delivery and the bizarre, theatrical performance broadcasted on it.”
