The Lay’s smile campaign has evolved from smiley face to focusing on the head. Never mind if you have short hair, spiky hair or no hair, you always have a reason to buy Lay’s potato crisps to change the way you think.
PepsiCo China describes the marketing of the Lay’s new headgear packaging (头顶乐事包) as “change the brain” (换脑子) to “improve your knowledge” (涨点芝士，整点乐事).
The word “knowledge” in Mandarin shares the same sound as “cheese” in Mandarin (芝士). Therefore eating cheese could help to improve your knowledge. The focus on the head coincides with the new cheese flavour, the highlight of the new range.
In one of the clips, it shows a university lecturer asking his student apart from being a physicist, what is the other profession of Albert Einstein.
The protagonist panicked.
After wearing the new Lay’s cheese flavoured crisps featuring the hairstyle of Albert Einstein, he seems to have achieved the eureka moment.
The answer to the lecturer’s question is Albert Einstein is also an artist. The message is there are many sides to a person and the most important thing is uncovering them. Improve your knowledge (cheese) by eating Lay’s.
Click here for the commercial.
The second clip shows a person has a gravity setback (Newton’s apple moment) and acting cool as though nothing has happened. Click here for the clip.
Partners with popular variety show
Lay’s has partnered with the popular variety show Mars Intelligence Agency (火星情报局) on Youku to increase awareness.
Giving away limited-edition Lay’s robot
On 28 July 2017, PepsiCo had an exclusive Super Brand Day on Tmall giving away 14 packs of Lay’s crisps plus a limited-edition robot for RMB 99. The robot can interact with the user by cracking jokes.
Click here for PepsiCo’s Tmall store.
What Mini Me thinks
The marketing content is suitable for mainland Chinese audience who understood the nuances and context.
