News

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.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Nick Kyrgios (@k1ngkyrg1os)

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.

French Basketballer, Tony Parker

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

 

ADVERTISEMENT

Get the latest media and marketing industry news (and views) direct to your inbox.

Sign up to the free Mumbrella newsletter now.

 

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up to our free daily update to get the latest in media and marketing.