Breakfast cereal ads have conventions. They’re family or active, but they’re always middle of the road. Quaker Oats has stepped outside them.

Uncommon’s new campaign film, The Fire Inside, for Quaker Oat makes oats cool. It also makes Quaker oats fuel for the soul as well as the body, the fuel that ignites the fire in people – a completely new direction for the brand, and for breakfast cereals in general.

The film uncharacteristically features a single man. He fuels up with oats to do his boxing training – which we see in all its tough physicality. Then comes a twist. It turns out that he is not an athlete; he’s a teacher. A very cool teacher. The story is underscored with a moving track, Outnumbered, by singer-songwriter, Dermot Kennedy. The appeal is obvious.

The full campaign will cover TV, digital, social media and in-store. The campaign will also continue Quaker’s long-standing relationship with Magic Breakfast. Partners since 2009, the scheme gives children a nutritious breakfast at school to fuel their concentration and learning. The Fire Inside activity will introduce limited-edition packs, removing the porridge from packs to drive awareness. Further, pledging one child’s bowl filled for every pack sold.

Claire Molyneux, senior marketing manager at PepsiCo, commented, “We have big ambitions for Quaker, and the Fire Inside campaign epitomises our brand purpose. To re-discover the unique role that Quaker plays in consumers’ lives, we went back to our 1909 brand manifesto. Quaker Oats were made not only to offer a bowl of goodness and warmth, but to act as a fuel for life. With what we have seen over the past few months, we know this message is more relevant than ever before. The Fire Inside campaign will help us to deliver this iconic message, but in a fresh and modern way. We are confident the activity will stand out in the cereals category, providing cut-through for retailers and ensuring Quaker is the breakfast of choice this winter.”

The Magic Breakfast pledge will appear across Quaker Oat So Simple and Quaker Traditional Oat packs for the whole of October. The campaign will also introduce a new identity across OOH, social and in-store.

Credits:

Client: Quaker
Marketing Director: Corinne Chant
Senior Marketing Manager: Claire Molyneux
Senior Brand Manager: Danielle Mendham

Creative Studio: Uncommon 

Production Company: Riff Raff
Director: Ed Morris 
Executive Producer: Tracey Cooper 
Producer: Lauren highman
Director of Photography: Hatti Beanland
Casting Director: Sophie North
Offline Editor: Luke Carlisle 
Online: Untold Studios 
VFX Lead: Ben McIlveen 
Post Production Producer: Nathan Hoad 
Sound Studio: Soundtree
Sound Design & Mix: Henning Knoepfel & Josh Younger 
Additional Music Production: Luke Fabia 
Music Supervision: Oliver Jay & Lisa McCaffery @ Curved Arrrow