Skittles Started A 'Brand Banter' Twitter Thread And Things Got Chaotic
On February 12, most of the U.S. was busy stuffing football-shaped cupcakes and other Game Day snacks in their mouths as they watched Super Bowl LVII. Some had their eyes glued to the TV in anticipation of this year's over-the-top commercials. Others across social media found that the "Rihanna concert interrupted by a football game" was kind of "weird." And Skittles? Well, Skittles spent its time unveiling secrets, suggesting frightening brand collabs, and talking to the official Twitter of a sewer district — yes, a sewer district — on its "brand banter" Twitter thread.
In the past, the candy company has given Super Bowl lovers plenty of the type of grandiose ads you'd expect from commercials for the big game. For Super Bowl L, the company made a portrait of Aerosmith's Steven Tyler entirely out of Skittles. (The cursed candy painting even belted out the main verse of "Dream On.") Then, for LII, Skittles created a commercial that only one person ever got to see. And in honor of the LIII football match-up, Skittles debuted a one-day musical on Super Bowl Sunday.
This year, in true Skittles fashion, the brand decided yet again took a chaotic approach to advertising by inviting every business on the app to a lively bit of "brand banter" during the game. Here's what the Twitter thread unveiled.
No brand could escape the rainbow's Twitter thread
Any Time Fitness, Milk, and Avocados From Mexico were among the many companies that joined the Twitter thread in question. However, even among the wider chaos, there were some particularly unhinged interactions.
For example, Slim Jim entered the chat by proclaiming it was "just here for the meat." In response, Skittles asked, "Meattles collab when?" When Skittles wasn't proposing a nightmarish food team-up, it was bringing some unexpected brand beef to light. The first question the NE Ohio Regional Sewer District Twitter account asked when it joined the fray was why Taco Bell wasn't DMing it back. Skittles was quick to comfort the regional sewer district, saying, "it's ok you have me now." (Taco Bell didn't respond.)
Before the night ended, Skittles kept things meta with its fellow companies by talking with Sour Patch Kids about trying to meet its KPIs (aka key performance indicators, which measure the progress of a goal) before half-time. And it's true — for all its silly banter, Skittles' thread wasn't all un-strategic fun and games. According to Digiday, Twitter is the best social media marketing tool for advertising during live events. And the Super Bowl Skittles thread, in particular, has earned more than 250,000 views. So it seems the company did indeed earn its KPIs.