Marmite goes subliminal for Mind Control campaign

Adam&eveDDB has ‘hacked’ the UK’s advertising with Marmite’s hypnotic new messaging, which has been popping up on posters and in the middle of other brands’ TV ads

The campaign plays around the usual love it or hate it debate, using ‘subliminal’ messaging to persuade haters to become lovers. A series of logo-free print ads feature Marmite jar silhouettes surrounded by psychedelic swirls, and accompanied by a single command: ‘hater, become a lover’.

While the posters are fun, the TV and radio creative is the most impressive part of the campaign. Pro-Marmite messaging has been sandwiched into adverts for AA, Virgin, Surf, Seat and Foster’s.

What starts out as a normal advert is unexpectedly interrupted with hypnotic Marmite imagery, and not-so-subliminal suggestions to ‘love it’. Even outdoor ads have been co-opted and watermarked with similar taglines.

It’s not the first time an advertiser has hijacked other brands’ creative (Tide did something similar during the 2018 Super Bowl break), but you have to admire the commitment required to organise something that must have been a logistical nightmare.

 

This is the second part of Marmite’s Mind Control campaign, following on from the end of last year when the brand launched a hypnosis film that it promised would convert viewers into fans

Credits:
Agency: Adam&eveDDB
Group Executive Creative Director: Ben Tollett
Chief Creative Officer: Richard Brim
Creatives: Simon Vicars, Andre Sallowicz, Matt Fitch, Mark Lewis
Designer/typographer: Paul Knowles from King Henry
Animation production company: Friends Electric