Brief

‘Have a break, Have a KitKat’ has been an iconic brand idea for 65 years. But to young people, iconic just means old, and it was losing relevance with a younger Gen Z audience.

We needed to make an ‘old’ campaign excite a new generation and encourage them to start owning one of the most iconic brand ideas ever, in a way that was actually relevant to them, particularly given they didn't have the same strong connection to it that previous generations did.

The aim was to generate as much earned media as possible, in an authentic way, and build relevance around the brand and product among the Gen Z audience.

Strategy

For years, the internet had shown signs of rejecting the classic KitKat ritual, choosing to take one giant bite rather than 'breaking' the bar as it had been done for decades - causing consternation among KitKat purists.

So rather than persuading or pressuring this new generation to simply adopt ‘Have a break’ as their own, we saw an opportunity to make them actually fight for it. 

For the first time, we acknowledged the long-running debate to do some strategic triggering, inviting our audience to reject the famous product ritual altogether.
By taking away the 'break' in 'Have a break', we knew we'd make people fight for it.

Giving them license to 'Have a bite', on channels like TikTok where our audience engage with each other, we knew the results would generate passionate discussion. We amplified that through Twitter, Instagram and PR to maximise the cultural moment.

Results

The internet reacted in a big way and debate raged, creating a huge amount of conversation in the first 48 hours. When the controversy was at its peak, KitKat took the opportunity to break their silence and amplify the debate.

4.3 million views in 48 hours

11.16% Tiktok engagement (about 4X the market benchmark)

27M social impressions (50% over KPI)

149% uplift in mentions 

56.3M in PR reach

2 minute segment on national news