Behind the Campaign That Turned Real Squirrels Into Adorable Brand Ambassadors

Broadly speaking, it can be a tricky task for any food company to capture an effective share of the market. To even convince potential consumers to have a taste, your product has to go toe-to-toe with its competitors – often visually, through advertising – which, in an era where more and more people are learning the tricks behind food science, grows increasingly hard to do.

This is something that KIND® Snacks Canada and its partner creative agency, McCann Canada, found themselves contemplating earlier this year, with the discovery that Canadians had started to lose sight of the brand’s defining qualities. Sure, ‘real ingredients’ sounded good on paper, but a shakeup would be required in order for the business to maintain success ahead of the spring and summer snacking seasons.

To this end, the team at McCann realised this was a great opportunity for a new brand ambassador to take to the stage. It needed to be someone who Canadians would connect with, recognise as an authentic voice, and remember when trekking through their grocery store snack aisles. So, clearly, for a product that’s primarily made with nuts, the best choice was to get the local squirrel population on board to demonstrate the product’s quality ingredients first-hand.

That’s right. Just this last month, the pair launched a series of out-of-home ads depicting real squirrels – their cheeks stretched wide with what appeared to be fully-intact KIND® snack bars. Achieved through practical means – no AI was used in the making of this campaign – these clever, memorable visuals were the result of the team at McCann creating prosthetic mouths and distended cheeks, filling them with nuts, and then placing them in the park for squirrels to find, creating a golden photo opportunity.

To learn more about what it took to bring this campaign together from start to finish, LBB’s Jordan Won Neufeldt sat down with the team at McCann, including creative directors Athina Afton Lalljee and Benjamin Playford, photographer and prosthetic artist Justin Poulsen, senior strategist Sabrina Lau, and account supervisor Isabel Wilkins, for a chat.

LBB> What was the brief for this campaign, and what immediate ideas came to mind?

Isabel> The goal was to remind Canadians that KIND® is a snack made with real ingredients. With so many snack bar options, Canadians had started to lose sight of what sets KIND® apart. We needed to do more than just remind them – we had to spotlight what makes KIND® different: real, whole nuts – its number one ingredient – and show Canadians how good snacking can be.

Sabrina> Right away, we knew the arrival of warmer weather was our moment – a time when Canadians are getting active and snacking matters most.

In terms of approach, squirrels were top of mind: playful, iconic, and as obsessed with nuts as KIND® is. With 23 native species across Canada, they felt like the perfect ambassador – an unmistakable way to bring KIND®’s real ingredients to life.

LBB> Getting squirrels to pose behind KIND-shaped prosthetics is such a fun way to promote the brand! What made this the right creative approach specifically?

Benjamin> We wanted a simple visual that could instantly communicate ‘packed with nuts’ in a fun way. Using real squirrels added a charm that felt true to KIND®’s brand vibe: real ingredients and no artificiality. Especially now, when consumers are hypersensitive to anything that feels overly polished or low-effort (like AI image slop), this felt like the perfect playful but genuine way to stand out.

LBB> Let’s explore this a little more – why was it so important for you to steer clear of AI on this project and instead do things manually?

Athina> AI can make cool-looking stuff, but it’s always remixing what already exists – tuned to generate things people expect, based on patterns and popularity. When you make something for real, it’s full of small compromises and unexpected details, but that’s what gives it charm. This doesn’t look ‘perfect’ – it looks funny, odd, and tactile… but that’s because it is real. And that felt cooler.

Also, beyond the craft, it’s just true to KIND®’s products. It’s always been focused on real ingredients you can see and pronounce (hence the clear wrapper), so it felt right to make sure the ads were as real as possible, too.

LBB> Given that you chose to do things by hand, at what point did you know this creative approach would actually be feasible? What was the planning process like?

Benjamin> We were never 100% sure it would work, but we hoped the squirrels would play ball and approach the prosthetics. (They’ve likely seen weirder).

With limited time, our photographer, Justin, did some quick scouting and test shots, and then we just set up and waited. Most would run up, sniff around, and dart off again. But in the end, it was enough.

LBB> With that in mind, what did it actually take to develop the prosthetics? How did you ensure they’d both effectively attract real squirrels, and look lifelike?

Justin> The prosthetic was modelled in 3D software based on the exact dimensions of a KIND® bar, then printed, finished, and hand-painted using old-school model-making techniques. The goal wasn’t hyperrealism – it just had to feel handmade and recognisable.

LBB> From here, what did it take to actually get squirrels to pose behind them? Where did you set them up, and what was the photography process like?

Justin> We had a few different prosthetics ready, but we were careful not to create anything that would intimidate the squirrels (we worried they might see a giant squirrel face and bolt). Fortunately, squirrels are curious by nature, so the real trick was a few well-placed peanuts on the back of the prop. That’s what got them to stand behind it, even if just for a second.

Photography-wise, it was a classic nature setup: a long lens fixed on the prosthetic, and lots of patience.

LBB> Do you have any anecdotes from the experience?

Justin> It turns out squirrels take a break from around 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

LBB> After capturing images of the squirrels, what did it take to refine them into the official OOH? Was there much editing required?

Justin> For the official OOH image, we decided to keep the squirrel's natural nose and whiskers, while blending in the cheeks and mouth of our sculpted and 3D-printed prosthetic. Since we created our prosthetics prior to shooting, we were basically making educated guesses on what colours and types of fur we would encounter in the wild. So, in post we had to push, change, and blend the fur colours, as well as add some additional fur texture where required.

LBB> Overall, what challenges did you face during this project? How did you overcome them?

Athina> Our main challenge was a tight timeline, but it came with a big silver lining: no time to overthink. We’re always grateful to have our clients’ and agency team’s trust, which keeps fun ideas fun. And everyone involved loved the idea, so they were happy to move quickly.

LBB> What lessons have you learned from the making of this campaign?

Athina> Sometimes, ‘let’s see what we get’ is a good plan to have. I know, it’s easy to say now that things worked out during the shoot, but we really didn’t know going in!

LBB> Since launch, how have people responded? And is this something you’ll be building on in the future?

Athina> People are loving the little squirrel so far, including the media team who called the ad “ADORABLE!!” (all caps included) when we sent them the files.

As for the second question, we’re excited to reveal more squirrels featuring different bar flavours as we roll into the summer.

LBB> Finally, is there an element of this campaign you’re especially proud of?

Athina> That we did it for real! The alternative would’ve been so much easier, but doing it practically has been far more rewarding, and we’re glad people are connecting with the campaign.