Snickers and Aitana Bonmatí Tackle the 'Real' Cause of Diving in Football

No matter if its world-renowned superstars or weekly five-a-side players, football games all around the globe share a long-suffering problem: diving.

Is it the lack of sportsmanship? The melodrama? Or just the fact it goes against the purity of our beautiful game. Anyone who loves football can agree that diving has gone too far. But thankfully, at long last, the real cause has been identified.

In an ironic, humorous twist to the long-running diving narrative, Snickers is now suggesting that there’s been one achingly simple solution all along: hunger. The solution? A Snickers, of course.

This is the latest chapter in Snickers’ iconic ‘You’re Not You When You’re Hungry’ series - this time, focusing on humorous ways to address people connected with football, who don’t behave quite themselves when they’re hungry.

To fix the diving issue once and for all, Snickers has partnered with Spanish national team member, World Cup winner and current Ballon D’Or holder (and two times winner), Aitana Bonmatí, to help identify hunger when it strikes, and get a Snickers to the offender - pronto.

A skilful-minded ‘purist’, Aitana's footballing philosophy stems from the DNA of her lifelong club, Barcelona. The Catalan club are the original proponents of “stay-on-your-feet”, ‘tika-taka’ football, so who better to call out the “anti-football” tactic of diving?

Aitana herself said, “This campaign felt fresh and a bit different, and I love the idea of Snickers taking a light-hearted approach to something that gets in the way of a good game of football. It was a fun one to be part of, and as someone who doesn't support diving and who believes we should always show respect for our opponents, I enjoyed being the advocate for stopping those hunger-induced fallings over.”

Featuring on Aitana’s social channels and amplified on paid media, Snickers follows her in mockumentary style format as she swaps floodlit stadiums for lower league pitches and five-a side parks, to issue the hungry fallen with a Snickers.

The campaign is part of Snickers’ strategy to target football fans in Europe and Central Eurasia, a key interest group and consumption moment within the snacking category. It’s a fully integrated campaign, spanning paid, ambassador content, partnered content, owned social and website.

Fabio Ruffet, VP brands and content Europe and Central Eurasia, Mars Snacking, said, “This tongue in cheek campaign lands our ‘You’re Not You When You’re Hungry’ message with football fans – football being a key passion point for our audience. On the football pitch, diving has become a tangible manifestation of players feeling out of sorts, and we knew Aitana would be the perfect partner to help us get to the root of this issue. In activating this campaign, we’re delighted to play a small part in what is set to be an exciting summer of football.”

​Frances Draskau, group creative director at T&Pm said, “Not content with being a double Ballon d’Or and World Cup winning footballer, Aitana Bonmati also happens to have a wicked sense of humour and dived right into our latest Snickers campaign. Directed by Simon Neal, the hard hitting mockumentary gets right to the heart of football’s biggest drama: players falling over due to hunger. In partnership with Aitana and Snickers, we’re grateful to be able to play a small part in solving this global issue.”