SNICKERS Blames AI’s Strange Behaviour on Hunger
After 16 years of putting the world to rights with its ‘You're Not You When You're Hungry’ platform, SNICKERS has turned its attention to AI with ‘Hungr.AI’, a digital candy bar made specifically for artificial intelligence.
As the technology increasingly interacts with everyday life, its flaws – or hallucinations – have also become more noticeable. Ranging from bizarre, unrelated outputs to overly agreeable responses, SNICKERS and long-time agency BBDO have determined these hallucinations are an example of a more familiar, human sensation: hunger.
“Just like people, AI can sometimes act unlike itself and make humorous mistakes – confidently giving an incorrect answer, validating a bizarre idea, or being overly agreeable – all of which have become part of the very real, humorous conversation people are having about AI,” explains Ashley Gill, vice president, brands and content marketing at Mars, speaking with LBB.
The brand saw these behaviours mirrored by the way people act when they’re hungry, and harnessed the opportunity to bring the ‘You’re Not You When You’re Hungry’ into an AI-inspired context. “In other words, if hunger can make people act unlike themselves, we can have a little fun when AI starts doing the same,” says Ashley.
"The great brand platforms stay true and relevant no matter how much the world changes around them," adds Josh Gross, chief creative officer at BBDO Chicago. "Once we realised AI’s weirder habits are actually quite comparable to hungry human behaviour, we couldn’t resist bringing 'You’re Not You When You’re Hungry' into the conversation. Then the real fun began figuring out how in the hell you feed AI a Snickers."
The campaign launches with two films directed by Pete Marquis through Good Behavior. Titled ‘Marathon’ and ‘Tattoo’, the spots show the results of asking hungry AI for advice, from attempting a marathon without training, to considering a questionably placed tattoo.
In practice, ‘Hungr.AI’ can be utilised when AI begins to offer misguided advice. By pasting a digital SNICKERS bar from snickers.com/hungr-ai into an AI assistant, it will adjust its answers based on a series of witty prompts designed to “feed” the AI, and steer it towards a satisfying response.
“There is functionality behind the experience, but we're not claiming that SNICKERS is literally fixing or improving AI tools and we are not a tech company,” Ashley explains. “The joke comes from connecting something people are already talking about – AI giving overly agreeable answers – with something SNICKERS has been saying for years: maybe you're just not yourself because you're hungry.”
While entering into AI marks new creative territory for the instantly recognisable platform, Ashley affirms it's a natural extension inspired by genuine cultural conversations about funny AI failures. “The opportunity isn't simply to put SNICKERS into a new technology conversation; it's to take a real, relatable conversation people are already having and give it a distinctly SNICKERS spin.
“The beauty of the idea is that the underlying human truth hasn't changed,” she continues. “Hunger can make you act differently, and now we're playfully applying that same thought to a new kind of behaviour people are seeing every day. It gives SNICKERS a way to join a conversation that's already happening in a way that feels true to the brand, rather than forcing a connection.
“We're simply doing what SNICKERS has always done: finding a funny, unexpected way to show that you're not you when you're hungry.”
The initiative speaks to the power and longevity of the brand platform, which initially launched at Super Bowl XLIV in 2010 with a campaign fronted by actress Betty White and professional quarterback/analyst Richard Bey. “That's the power of a truly enduring brand platform: the execution can change dramatically while the underlying idea remains instantly recognisable,” says Ashley. “‘You're Not You When You're Hungry’ has always been flexible enough to spot those moments when someone or something behaves unlike itself and find the humorous explanation: maybe it's just hungry.
“SNICKERS ‘Hungr.AI’ shows that the platform can evolve with culture by tapping into a real conversation around AI fails without losing the simple human truth at its core. The technology is new, the behaviour is new, but the ‘not you’ moment is something SNICKERS has been owning for years.”
