How Lay’s filmed an ad starring David Beckham in 5 minutes

As it prepared a campaign for this year’s UEFA Champions League tournament, Lay’s secured soccer legends David Beckham and Thierry Henry for starring roles. But the PepsiCo chip brand had to work against the clock to pull its ad off. The commercial was filmed live during a soccer match, testing to see if anyone in the crowd of 75,000 had a bag of Lay’s chips. The campaign will also feature a partnership with Meta that uses image recognition to detect Lay’s. The idea for the “Chip Cam” to search the stadium came from Lay’s agency partner Slap. The stunt was supposed to happen last year during the UEFA Champions League final, but the logistics and timing didn’t align, according to Ciara Dilley, VP of marketing for global food brands at PepsiCo. Instead, the Chip Cam became the creative for the “No Lay’s, No Game” campaign this year. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here The ad was filmed in November 2023, and directed by Andrew Lane. The spot shows Beckham and Henry on the sidelines before a match between Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan at San Siro Stadium in Milan. Beckham asks for the bag of Lay’s, only to find that Henry has eaten them all. Henry asks the cameramen to find someone with a bag of Lay’s and invites them to come watch the game with him and Beckham. Fans hold up pizzas, photos of Lay’s and empty bags, until the camera lands on a father and daughter each with a bag of Lay’s. Dilley said the team had three criteria for filming the spot: It had to fit Beckham and Henry’s schedules, the game had to be in Europe and have a connection to one or both of the players (Beckham played for both AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain), and the stadium had to sell Lay’s. “Our chances were good, but not guaranteed,” said Dilley. “We had to do it in five minutes because of the broadcast and commercial times, and it did take us nearly the full five minutes. We also had a lot of backup scenarios, and likely would have dramatized the sadness of not having Lay’s if we had not found anyone.” More from Ad Age: Top 5 celebrity brand collabs to know about This is the second time Lay’s has run its “No Lay’s, No Game” campaign. Last year, the snack maker’s spots featured Henry knocking on doors to find who has Lay’s, and then staying to watch the match with them. Dilley said that last year’s campaign led to an increase in brand affinity, as well as sales, and the brand is looking to build on that success. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lay's Football (@lays_football) The campaign will run in over 35 global markets, including the U.S., U.K. and Mexico on linear TV, streaming, digital and paid social media. Read more: Behind soccer’s breakthrough year The brand decided to have Beckham join Henry this year to add more star power to the campaign. (The effort marks the second high-profile campaign for Beckam this month after starring in Uber Eats’ Super Bowl commercial.) “We felt that the ambition for this creative was huge,” Dilley said. “So we needed strong talent to get the right reaction from the crowd, and for TV. Beckham is so well-known from his own career and now with Inter Miami and his Netflix show. It also takes the pressure off Henry, and they work well together.” Part of this year’s campaign includes a partnership with Meta and the creation of the “Lay’s Detector” lens, which uses image recognition. To try it, fans can scan the QR code that appears in the ads or on Lay’s social channels to access the lens. They’ll then be asked to verify they have a bag of Lay’s and if they do, they can enter their name and email to win prizes, including tickets to the UEFA Champions League men’s finals at Wembley Stadium in London on June 1. The data is gathered by PepsiCo and not shared with Meta, according to PepsiCo. The Lay’s Detector will only be available in the U.S., U.K., Turkey, Mexico, South Africa and the Netherlands.

How Lay’s filmed an ad starring David Beckham in 5 minutes

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