McVitie’s launched a comedy hero film for its new Jaffa Cakes Nibbles campaign, ‘Jaffa Whaaaaat?’, starring popular TV star Joey Essex. The integrated campaign sees McVitie’s pleading with Jaffa fans to help describe the new McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Nibbles, which launched last month, after the brand confessed it had no idea what it had created.
The humorous hero film, which is now live across the brand’s social media channels, is directed by Jack Clough from HunkyDory Films, best known for directing the multi award-winning comedy 'People Just Do Nothing' (2014) and ‘Skins’ (2007)
‘Nibbles the Goat’ is on the look-out for answers to find out what the McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Nibbles really are, and she is not afraid to show her confusion, yelling an infectious “Whaaaaat?” sound whenever she sees them.
Joey Essex, who aptly portrays McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes playful and cheeky brand personality, is seen waiting in a beauty salon about to top up his orange tan while enjoying McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Nibbles, when out comes the curious goat from inside the tanning booth staring him down. Sharing his confusion for both the McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Nibbles and ‘Nibbles the Goat’, Joey asks in his typical fashion “What are YOU saying?!”.
The amusing film aims to ignite a public debate around what the new McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Nibbles really are (is it a cake, biscuit, chocolate?) and encourage the nation to share their own ludicrous descriptions on social media, using the campaign hashtag #JaffaWhaaaaat. It will run across multiple platforms including social media, radio and PR until 14 April 2019.
Emma Stowers, Brand Director for McVitie’s at pladis UK&I, said: “Whilst we made the new McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Nibbles irresistible to nibble, they’re totally impossible to describe and we’re slightly stumped. We’re asking the nation to unleash their playful, cheeky side and help us describe them in their own unique way. We’re very excited to launch this fun, playful campaign which truly reflects the McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes brand personality and allows us to engage with its fans.”
The campaign film was produced by The&Partnership London and is the first campaign for McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes from the UK-based agency.
Micky Tudor, The&Partnership London Executive Creative Director, said: “We wanted to be mischievous, to provoke some Great British Biscuit Banter with this new McVitie’s creation. Using tongue in cheek messaging, we have asked the public if they think that McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Nibbles are "zesty, orangey, chocolatey balls or sumptuous, sweet, spongetastic spheres?”. To help us find our answer, we’ve enlisted the help of several notoriously cheeky UK celebrities - Joey Essex, Jack Clough, Chris Hughes and Kem Centinay; accompanied by Nibbles the Goat, together they will ask the nation to debate Jaffa Whaaaaat?”
Tell us about your role in the creation of this work.
Adam: We’re Adam and Ted, Creatives from the The & Partnership
Ted: …and doppelgangers to the Hairy Bikers
Give us an overview of the campaign, what is it about?
Ted: A confused goat searching for answers, trying to work out what these new McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Nibbles are.
Adam: They’re irresistible to nibble and impossible to describe - nobody can agree what McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Nibbles actually are, so we’re asking the nation to help us describe them.
Tell us the details of the creative brief, what did it ask?
Adam: Creating a public debate was at the heart of the brief. There’s some pretty heavy stuff being talked about across Britain at the moment, so the brief wanted us to lighten the nations mood and get people talking about McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes
Which insight led to the creation of this piece of work?
Ted: We were sat in a café one morning talking about the product, and it hit us. Nobody knows what McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes are, never mind these new Jaffa Cakes Nibbles. We realized that was our answer. Confusion.
Adam: Then when we heard that a certain goat makes a human-like noise when they bleat, that led us to the idea.
Can you share with us any alternative ideas (if any) for this campaign? Why was this idea chosen?
Ted: There was a talking tummy at one stage, where somebody ate a few McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Nibbles and then all of a sudden, their stomach begins to question them about what they’re eating.
Adam: Confused Goat was better. Less complicated. We were always taught if you can write it in a sentence, it works.
What was the greatest challenge that you and your team faced during development.
Ted: Just the usual shoot worries. Staring at a monitor for hours praying to God the goat will look in the right direction, stay still and open its mouth.
Adam: Finding the perfect noise was pretty tough as well, but fun. We played around with different tones and sounds for ages to finally settle on the signature ‘Whaaaaat?’
What did you enjoy most about seeing this campaign through? Did you learn anything new from the experience?
Ted: Making people laugh. We were probably a little overly cautious about who we shared it with when it was still WIP. When we finally did it was a relief it wasn’t just us who found it funny…that would have been pretty awkward.
Adam: Choosing how small Joey Essex’s shorts were going to be was a pretty weird experience as well.
Where do you see this campaign going in the future?
Ted: Nibbles the goat has since been flown out to LA to pursue her dream of becoming a Hollywood Goat. I wish her all the best, we parted way on good terms and hope she’ll come back to star in the sequel.
Adam: Hopefully it gets us more briefs like this, where our main job as creatives is to try and make people laugh.