A sharp, squawking sound assaults your brain. And this commercial continues to give you a long, loud blast of it throughout. it’s the sound of binary code loaded onto a system called the ZX Spectrum. And now that the spot has the attention of gamers (and everyone else with ears), it is going to remind you of how far computer gaming has come. Pringles new campaign by Grey London is a tribute to those who have ‘stayed in the game’ since gaming began. Before the Metaverse, the cloud, the internet…players shared computer games using the sound of binary code loaded onto the ZX Spectrum. So to celebrate ZX Spectrum’s 40th anniversary, the snack brand decided to share a Pringles chip using the sound of binary code.
At the heart of the Mind Popping commercial is a Pringlesonic Chip, an 8-bit depiction of a potato chip created in binary code sound and sent out to the world in a teaser film. While it is a cryptic communication for some people, others instantly recognised what it was, and downloaded the sound to play to their ZX Spectrum. When they did, not only did they find the Pringlesonic Chip, but also details of a competition to win a one-off 8-bit can of Pringlesonic Original Computer Chips.
While fans of retro gaming and ZX Spectrums (AKA the Speccy) are a legion online, Pringles has also created additional social content featuring footage of the supercomputer creating the 8-bit Pringlesonic Chip so that newer generations of gamers can see what the fuss is about.
The distinctive Pringles hyperbolic paraboloid was apparently conceived by engineers as a way of making a potato chip which was less likely to break before reaching consumers. To perfect the shape, they used a supercomputer to crunch the numbers and come up with the ideal dimensions. It’s how the perfect potato chips were born, making it the ideal snack for gamers, as not only are they less mess, but they’re also less greasy, a crucial factor for those who play while they pop.
Aisling O’Hara, Pringles Europe marketing manager, stated, “Pringles continues to be the go-to snack for gamers and we’re really excited to take that to the next level. When talking to consumers during campaign development, they told us how the Pringles chip is like no other, how the less mess snack helps them stay in the game which formed the basis of our ‘Stay in the Game’ creative idea. We’re looking forward to having a lot of fun with this campaign under our new brand platform, Mind Popping.”
Laura Jordan Bambach, president and chief creative officer at Grey London, added, “It’s been said that without the ZX Spectrum, computer gaming would never have taken off in the way it has, so it makes sense for the go-to gaming snack, Pringles, to pay tribute to its ability to stay in the game, even as it turns 40, with this ingenuity of Pringles, mind popping 8-bit of genius.”
The campaign launched to coincide with the ZX Spectrum’s 40th anniversary, which occurred on April 23, will be the first since its inventor, Sir Clive Sinclair, passed away in September 2021.
Credits:
Client: Kellogg’s (Pringles)
Senior Director: Kelly Rafferty
European Marketing Director: Stephen Duggan
European Marketing Manager: Aisling O’Hara
Senior Brand Manager: David Juvany
Senior Digital Manager: Roisin Devine
Digital Marketing Manager: Stephen McSweeney
Senior Media Manager: Gavin McGuinness
Media Specialist: Louise Murphy
European Director – Content and Digital: Chris Wildish
Marketing Operations Manager, EMEA: Fergus Brady
Brand PR & Communications Manager: Seamus Clancy
Creative Studio: Grey London
Worldwide Creative Partner: Javier Campopiano
President & CCO: Laura Jordan Bambach
Executive Creative Directors: Christopher Lapham & Aaron McGurk
Creative Directors: Angela Harding & Terry O’Neill
Chief Strategy officer: Raquel Chicourel
Planning Partner: Lee Barber
Senior Planner: Gilliam Caldwell Dunn
Managing Partner: Agi Varanyi
Group Business Director: Tamsine Foggin
Account Director: James Kenrick
Account Manager: Danielle Webb
Executive Producer: Nazneen Read
Agency Producer: Ellie Hook
Creative Content & Tech Producer: Jack Pethurst
ZX Programmer: Peter McKenzie-Jones
Designer: Tyrone Zall
Artworker: Nigel Miller
Editor: Joseph Brett
Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Michael Clowater
Producer: Jason Scanlon
DOP: Mattias Nyberg
Production Designer: Sigita Šimkūnaité
Edit House: Marshall Street Editors
Offline Editor: John Mayes
Edit House Post Production: Si O’Mara
Post Production: Black Kite
Colourist: Richard Fearon
Visual Effects Supervisor: Dan Sanders
3D Lead: Fin Crowther
Online Producer: Tamara Mennell
Sound Studio: Gramercy Park Studios
Sound Engineer: Zach Kurtha
Audio Producer: Richard Donaghue
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