Nick Kyrgios swaps tennis for basketball in new global campaign for Old El Paso
Old El Paso have again partnered with tennis star Nick Kyrgios to bring back the #MessFreeChallenge, this time adding a Slam Dunk to display the Tortilla Pockets provide a tidy Mexican culinary experience.
The new campaign, which comes from partner Thinkerbell, shows Kyrgios playing his notoriously favourite sport, dunking a basketball while eating one of the brand’s Tortilla Pockets.
The original campaign last year went viral, with Krygios’ friend and co-tennis player Andy Murray getting involved in the challenge, playing tennis while eating a taco, as well as France’s Gaël Monfils and Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina.
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Kyrgios, said: “After the success of the 2020 #MessFreeChallenge, I wanted to be able to continue giving back. Everybody knows I love basketball and so this time round I’ve switched courts to again partner with my favourite Old El Paso to take it up a notch, from hitting tweeners with the no-spill Old El Paso Tortilla Pockets from last time, to now dunking mess-free with these pockets.”
Kyrgios posted the #MessFreeChallenge to his 1.7 million Instagram followers in July, kicking off the campaign, with a combined purpose of fighting food insecurity in Australia.
Australian basketballers Andrew Bogut and Lauren Jackson took on the challenge, as well internationally renowned players including Tony Parker, Andre Drummond and Andrew Wiggins.
Kyrgios committed 30,000 Mexican meal kits to Foodbank Australia, through his own NK Foundation and a further one meal product for every share of the challenge on his Instagram, up to a maximum of 15,000.
Brand experience manager in Australia for Old El Paso, Rafa Husain, said: “We were very excited at the prospect of reuniting again with an inspirational personality like Nick Kyrgios, who shares our mission to be a force for good. He has helped us take the #MessFreeChallenge to the next level and we’ve been ecstatic to see the uptake off the back of Nick’s mess-free slam dunk efforts. Not only in Australia, but with basketball stars, fans and consumers across the world, who are binding together to help us combat food insecurity.”
The brand said that it had the ambition to inspire as many people as possible to show their creativity and join the challenge, which last year raised 20,000 food donations. From July through August, the brand said “65,000 food donations were provided to Foodbank Australia and 200,000 food donations were committed to food banks worldwide too”
Thinkerbell was last month appointed by Salvos as its full-service agency of record, joining Thinkerbell’s roster shortly after it was appointed by Lion as the alcohol brand’s sole creative agency at the end of August.
This news came after Mumbrella reported that Bega Cheese consolidated its media account with Starcom. Thinkerbell remains the lead creative agency for Vegemite, which is owned by Bega Cheese. Bega Cheese acquired Lion Dairy & Drinks from Lion in November 2020, which has since been renamed to Bega Dairy & Drinks.
Credits
Client – General Mills:
Arjoon Bose – Head of Brand, Experience & Culture – General Mills (EUAU)
Bryan Diehl – Regional Brand Experience Manager – Old El Paso (EUAU)
Audrey Noel – Regional Brand Experience Lead – Old El Paso (EUAU)
Bronwyn Cheng – Head of World Foods and Baking (ANZ)
Rafa Husain – Brand Experience Manager – Old El Paso (ANZ)
Creative Agency – Thinkerbell (Creative, PR and influencer):
Chief Creative Tinker, Ben Couzens
Lead Creative Tinker, André Pinheiro
Creative Tinker, Cale Berry
Design Tinker, Jack Dinsmoor
Chief Thinker, Adam Ferrier
Head Thinker, Jessica Graham
Thinker, Jiaan Koch
Thinker, Rosie Bourke
Lead Thinker – Earned, Taylor York
Thinker – Earned, Charlie Marchant
Head Production Tinker, Di Nash
Production Tinker, Katie Ayling
Production Tinker, Alexis Cook
Editor, Terry Mann
European Creative Agency – Spacer
Production: Brightworks