Ad Nut
Sep 30, 2020

Watch Nick Kyrgios eat Mexican food while playing tennis

The Aussie tennis star demonstrates Old El Paso's Tortilla Pocket—and challenges other professional athletes to do the same—in a campaign by Thinkerbell.

The product wizards at General Mills' Old El Paso brand have somehow created a tortilla, officially dubbed the Tortilla Pocket, that's sealed at one end and roughly cylindrical in shape. The product heralds the dawn of an age of "mess-free Mexican mealtimes", according to the company.  

When you have a product this outstanding—Ad Nut is not being facetious, this will obviously be a huge hit—a product demo is clearly the best way to go in your marketing.

And that's what indie agency Thinkerbell has done for the Australia launch of the product this month. Thinkerbell, which is the creative, earned-media and influencer-engagement agency for General Mills in Australia, got tennis star Nick Kyrgios to return some serves while munching on a yummy entree encased in one of the pockets.

In the video, which debuted to the more than 1.4 million followers on Kyrgios's Instagram channel on September 15, Kyrgios invites other athletes to take part in the #MessFreeChallenge. He tagged and challenged Australian tennis great Lleyton Hewitt and Aussie-rules footballer Tayla Harris, and the challenge has spread to gymnast Olivia Vivian and athlete Genevieve LaCaze. Kyrgios later tagged Andy Murray in another post, because the product is also launching in the UK and Ireland this month. Murray upped the level of difficulty (see below) and further challenged several other players.

The campaign also a charity element, as Kyrgios's NK Foundation and Old El Paso jointly committed to donating 10,000 Old El Paso meal kits to Foodbank Australia, plus one additional meal kit for every  share of Kyrgios's #MessFreeChallenge video via Instagram.

CREDITS

Client
Arjoon Bose (Head of Culture and Partnership)
Bronwyn Cheng (Marketing Manager)
Charlotte Stevens (Brand Experience Manager)
Agency
Thinkerbell
Production
Brightworks
Nick Kyrgios talent management
Tom Chapman (WME Agency)
Stuart Duguid (IMG)
Daniel Horsfall (DMH Management)

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.

 

Source:
Campaign Asia

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