Ask anyone what the peach emoji means, they’re unlikely to say, “peach”. 93% of the time it’s used on social media, it doesn’t mean the fruit at all. But Lipton Peach is the brand’s most famous flavour. Lipton and adam@eve\TBWA want to reclaim the emoji. And they are enlisting the help of the OG himself, Ice-T.
Ice-T is calling on the internet to respect the peach in a pan-European #RespectThePeach drive for Lipton Peach Ice Tea. He kicked off the campaign by dropping into gym and fitness communities on TikTok and Instagram where people routinely post about training their 🍑, and set the record straight: this fruit is not a glute.
This is followed by a launch of a video in which Ice-T officially calls on the internet to respect the peach, saying, “’Make sure the peach emoji is always used to represent the sweet peachy taste of the OG Lipton Peach Ice Tea. A butt is a butt and a peach is a peach – is a Lipton Ice Tea.”
@liptoniceteanl Respect the 🍑. Tea changes peach emojis. Tea changes everything #RespectThePeach #LiptonIceTea ♬ original sound – liptoniceteanl
@liptoniceteanl Win some fresh OG Lipton. Enough is enough. Drop your best example of people disrespecting the peach emoji in the comments and tag me using @liptoniceteaNL. Respect the 🍑. #RespectThePeach #LiptonIceTea ♬ original sound – liptoniceteanl
The campaign alsp includes the launch of the buttmoji – an anatomically correct butt shaped emoji.
@liptoniceteanl Introducing the new buttmoji — grab the sticker in the comments. Now you gotta respect the 🍑. Tea changes peach emojis. Tea changes everything. #RespectThePeach #LiptonIceTea ♬ original sound – liptoniceteanl
Producers and DJs have remixed Ice-T’s voice from the video into TikTok tracks designed to spread across social and into nightclubs. The campaign is also supported by contextual digital out of home advertising in hundreds of gyms.
Now Lipton Ice Tea is inviting everyone, creators and users, to share their own peach emoji misunderstanding stories under the hashtag #RespectThePeach, to engage directly directly with Ice-T, who will respond in real time. Everyone is encouraged to join in the campaign through shareable ads, stickers, GIFs, memes, and even a butt emoji that people can use instead of the peach. Participation is built into the campaign, with creator involvement, personalised responses, and live community moderation fuelling the conversation.
The campaign is running across TikTok, Instagram, and OOH across March and April. The initial launch has been in the Netherlands and Belgium, with more European markets taking up the campaign in the coming weeks.
April Adams-Redmond, global chief marketing officer, Pepsi Lipton, stated, “When we discovered that 93% of peach emoji usage has nothing to do with the fruit, we instantly saw an opportunity for Lipton Peach Ice Tea. Partnering with Ice-T to #RespectThePeach is a relevant, playful intervention that speaks to how people actually communicate online. This campaign is about Lipton showing up where conversations are happening, with a welcome dose of irreverent humour – all while sipping on some delicious Ice Tea.”
Mark Shanley, executive creative director, adam&eve\TBWA, added, “It turns out 93% of social posts are using the peach emoji wrong. That’s a lot of ass related content. So we needed a genuine authentic expert in the subject. That’s why we hired Ice-T (the rapper turned actor) to help Lipton Ice Tea (the refreshing soft drink) to teach a lesson in respecting the peach. This feels like the sort of insight led, social first, butt joke that the world needs right now and we have had a lot of fun making it.”
Credits:
Client: Lipton
Global Chief Marketing Officer: April Redmond
Global Marketing Director: Nipa Shah
Global Senior Marketing Manager: Kevin Evans
General Manager Lipton Ice Tea & Sales Director OOH: Thijs Sleddering
Senior Brand Experience Manager Lipton: Manon Lanckneus
Global Brand Communications Manager: Chloe Smith
Global Digital Marketing Manager: Iona Borer
Agency: adam&eve\TBWA
Chief Creative Officers: Ant Nelson & Mike Sutherland
Executive Creative Director: Mark Shanley
Creative Directors: Amber Casey & Nicola Woods
Creatives: Tomi Loye & Walaa Ellabib
Producer: Holly Pienaar
Chief Strategy Officer: Will Grundy
Global Planning Partner: Sarah Carter
Planning Director: Frederica Procope
Director of Communications Planning: Ben Obadia
Miranda Hipwell
Managing Partner: Flemming Lerche
Business Director: Max Sullivan
Account Manager: Hope Shooter
Project Manager: Becky Faloju
Designer: Sam Harris
Production Company: Snapper Films
Director: Steve Mapp
Head of Production: Jess Turner
Founder. & EP: Helen Hadfield
Service Company: Skin and Bones
Editing company: Work Editorial
Editor: Charlie Moreton
Producer: Frankie Elster
Post Production: No.8
Producers: Charlotte Griffin & Chloe Heatlie
EP: James Robley
VFX Artists: Huss Hassani & Jay Fiaes
Colourist: Jonny Tully
Music: Audio Network
Track: Migraine – Andy Cooper
Sound Design: No.8
Sound Designer: James Everett
