Lidl Ireland Sparks Paul Mescal Madness with Lookalike Competition

Lidl championed the look-alike long before it became a pop culture affair. So, when celebrity look-alike competitions started popping up around the world, the retailer decided to launch their best dupe yet. Enter ‘Middle Aisle Mescal’, a nod to Lidl’s renowned Middle Aisle. The Middle Aisle is full of products you never knew you needed from wetsuits to air fryers and everything in between.  

Orchestrated by Droga5 Dublin, unbranded posters popped up around the city overnight alongside an anonymous TikTok account, instructing Mescalikes to meet and compete. Intentionally, the event aligned perfectly ahead of Mescal’s appearance at the Irish premiere for Gladiator II. A brilliant, culture-led idea emerged, executed on TikTok with a simple lo-fi poster, the unofficial promise of a true Paul sighting and an audience of super PAUL fans - all without spending a single cent on media.

In response, crowds of Dubliners showed up donning shorts and Mescal’s iconic chain. To their delight, Lidl revealed themselves as the masterminds behind the event with ‘Middle Aisle Mescal’ stickers, vouchers and a comically large €20 cheque for the winner.

The event has dominated social media, drawing global attention across the press, TikTok, Instagram, X and Reddit with the winner being invited for appearances on Irish TV.  

Even Paul Mescal himself approved saying “They got the spirit of it”.

Speaking about his win, Jack Wall O’Reilly commented, “It’s a real honour to be officially crowned The Paul Mescal lookalike. Never in a million years did I think I’d reach the final let alone win. I would like to thank Paul for being such an inspiration to me over the years, what he’s achieved has been really incredible, as well as Lidl selecting me as the winner. I’m off to spend my winnings in Lidl, of course!” See here for a photo of our winner. 

Conor Barron, digital marketing manager at Lidl Ireland said, “We’re known for our charmingly cheeky sense of humour and high-quality brand inspired products. As big fans of Paul Mescal ourselves, we couldn’t resist taking this opportunity to promote the unique talent we have here in Ireland and we were delighted to officially award Jack with the prize – we hope he spends it wisely in Lidl!”

Droga5 Dublin’s head of digital and social, Sarah-Jane Lowes, said, “When we won Lidl’s digital and social business earlier this year they gave us a clear ambition: make Lidl the most talked about brand in Ireland, and we use this as the North Star for all our work. This project was as fun to work on as the event itself. And it clearly shows. There is nothing more infectious than that type of energy. This campaign was equal parts smart and silly and that is what made it successful. When you pair a client as creatively ambitious as Lidl and a team as culturally-obsessed as we are, magic happens.”