What if Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader weren’t even related? Or Bruce Willis’ character in The Sixth Sense wasn’t dead? Twizzlers is demonstrating the importance of a good twist—in a story and in your candy snack—in a movie-themed campaign developed by FCB Canada.
The licorice brand, known for its signature twisted shape, has been a movie theatre staple since the 1930s, consistently ranking among moviegoers’ favourite snacks. The new campaign, “Movies are better with a twist,” demonstrates the twisted connection between the two.
The campaign is built around a series of 15-second video spots, each of which opens on a scene of a young couple on their couch, eating Twizzlers and transfixed by the action unfolding on their screen.
They’re watching the same scene each time: a romantic tête-a-tête between a man and a woman, who says she’s been looking for a man like him all of her life, only to reveal—dun, dun, dunnn—that she’s actually a detective. Each of the three spots ends with a different soap opera-esque reveal and the “Movies are better with a twist” tagline.
The spots are running across TV, online video and in-theatres, with the media buy also including the “twistiest” of all TV shows, soap operas.
“At Twizzlers, we know that movies are better with a twist. Our new campaign adds a unique spin to an iconic movie scenario to remind consumers that Twizzlers is the perfect snack to enjoy while watching their favourite movies,” said Twizzlers’ marketing manager, Nicole Mahon.
In addition to the video creative, Twizzlers is also running a series of print and social ads that feature a Twizzlers-esque twist to iconic lines and moments from well-known movies such as The Sixth Sense (“I see alive people”), The Empire Strikes Back (“Luke, we are unrelated”), and Apollo 13 (” Houston, everything’s okay up here”).
A Spotify ad departs from the campaign’s movie theme to address sports, specifically streaking. The twist: everyone, including the announcer, joins the streaker in disrobing.
“Some of the most memorable movie scenes are the ones where a twist comes into play, so it felt like a natural fit for the brand to take ownership over that moment,” said FCB creative director Marty Hoefkes. “Because everyone can agree that adding a twist makes the movie experience that much better.”
