HARIBO’s celebrated ‘Kids’ Voices’ campaign has enjoyed tremendous success for over a decade, and at Quiet Storm we’re proud to have created the strategy, creative and produced many of the films in the series.
It’s all driven by a simple yet powerful idea: HARIBO gives us a sense of childlike joy, no matter how old we are. We bring this to life by showing adults in serious scenarios lip-syncing to the voices of children excitedly talking about HARIBO—a technique mastered by director Trevor Robinson (also the founder of Quiet Storm), who has helmed numerous ads in the series.
When HARIBO briefed us to come up with a ‘Kids’ Voices’ ad set in the world of the NFL, Trevor was thrilled. His vision was to create a film that would be indistinguishable from a real football match, hooking viewers from the start, and then maximize the humor by putting immense, tough-looking actors in the starring roles.
Crafting the Script
Creating a ‘Kids’ Voices’ ad isn’t like directing a typical TVC, because the magic of the campaigns lies in the genuine, spontaneous reactions of children, which cannot be scripted.
So Trevor’s work on ‘HARIBO Goldbears Football’ began with capturing the voices that would form a large part of the script.
Experience has shown that the sweet spot tends to be in working with children aged between five and seven who are naturally extroverted, ideally bringing along friends and family they can bounce off of. With suitable candidates identified, Trevor then worked to create an environment where the kids felt completely free to let their imaginations run wild as they talked about HARIBO. To help spark some NFL-related observations, the recording room was filled with stimuli like helmets and footballs.
The result was some funny, very cute soundbites, including one child’s observation that “It would not be hard to tackle a Goldbear because they’re… TINEEEEY.” For 100% authenticity, Trevor did not edit out the stumbles and hesitations, which gives the film real standout in a world of slick sounds.
Casting
Once the children’s voices were captured, Trevor turned his attention to the task of casting the on-screen talent—a process that can be just as challenging in its own way.
Luckily, the size of a typical NFL player couldn’t contrast more with that of a typical child. So our actors, Ben Sheedy and Mark Willis , were cast partly for their physicality—in the football scenario, the bigger, gruffer, and less childlike they are, the funnier it is when they open their mouths to speak in tiny kids’ voices.
But there’s real skill in embodying a child’s mannerisms, so equally important were comic timing and the ability to deliver performances that were both funny and endearing. And Ben Sheedy and Mark Willis really nailed it.
Visual Treatment & Editing
The film only works if the audience genuinely feels like they’re watching a real match before the HARIBO reveal. So Trevor’s visual treatment was designed to capture that intensity, from the close-up of the ball being kicked and the roar of the crowd, through to the players’ uniforms—designed to look completely authentic without infringing on any real team’s branding or distracting from the HARIBO packaging.
After the high-energy opening, Trevor deliberately slowed the tempo to create space for the absurdity and charm of the situation to emerge, and to give the audience a chance to truly appreciate the humor.
Trevor employed simple, locked camera angles to maximize the visual impact of the two huge men holding tiny pieces of candy. This also meant the performances remained the focal point, right until the final moment when their coach brings them back to the real world, before we cut to the HARIBO packshots, complete with football helmets.
Despite not being an “official” Super Bowl commercial, the Goldbears spot became a topic of post-game analysis, cementing its place in the cultural commentary surrounding the event. One YouTube commenter was even moved to remark: “You know an ad is good when you fully look it up after seeing 10 seconds of it.”
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