‘Have a break, Have a KitKat’ has been an iconic brand idea for 65 years. But to young people, iconic just means old, and it was losing relevance with a younger Gen Z audience.

We needed to make an ‘old’ campaign excite a new generation and encourage them to start owning one of the most iconic brand ideas ever, in a way that was actually relevant to them, particularly given they didn't have the same strong connection to it that previous generations did.

The aim was to generate as much earned media as possible, in an authentic way, and build relevance around the brand and product among the Gen Z audience.

For a few years, the internet had shown signs of rejecting the classic KitKat ritual, choosing to take one giant bite rather than 'breaking' the bar as it had been done for decades - causing much consternation among KitKat purists.

So rather than trying to persuade or pressure this new generation to simply adopt ‘Have a break’ as their own, we saw an opportunity to make them actually fight for it.

For the first time, we acknowledged the long-running debate to do some strategic triggering through content co-created with TikTok stars that invited our audience to reject the famous product ritual.

By giving them license to 'Have a bite', especially using a channel like TikTok where our audience were engaging with each other, we knew the results would generate passionate discussion. We then amplified it through Twitter, Instagram and PR to maximise the cultural moment and create a national story.

Our sceptical Gen-Z audience doesn't want to be told what to do by brands. So instead of over-investing in paid media, our strategy was to seed a conversation through social, to create a cultural moment they would want to be part of.

We identified that how people ate KitKats had proved controversial in the past, so decided to reignite this existing online debate. To ensure it triggered a response, we made it feel organic and not manufactured by the brand.

We carefully selected Tiktok creators based on their active audiences and style, giving them flexibility to create content based on our brief, in a way that they knew would resonate with their followers.

The triggering nature of the issue meant that there’d be some controversy – controversy we could amplify to maximise our earned media. We then stoked that with bespoke packaging sent to influencers and publications.

We began by partnering with a series of TikTok creators to seriously trigger their followers by taking one big bite from their KitKat instead of 'breaking' a finger the official way.

The internet reacted in a big way and debate raged, creating a huge amount of conversation in the first 48 hours. When the controversy was at its peak, KitKat took the opportunity to break their silence.

A special cut of the recent brand TVC starring Aussie screen legend Michael Caton officially acknowledged the issue and asked 'Is this wrong?', before a packaging re-design, and live social interactions with other brands and Aussie celebs, threw more fire onto the debate. A series of social polls found a humorous way to keep throwing fuel on the fire and keep the issue hot.

An issue that was so polarising that it was covered in a 2 minute segment on national news.

4.3 million views in 48 hours

11.16% Tiktok engagement (about 4X the market benchmark)

27M social impressions (50% over KPI)

149% uplift in mentions

56.3M in PR reach

2 minute segment on national news