Pringles’ ambition is to become the ultimate gaming snack. They are about to launch an integrated campaign called ‘Stay in the Game’, focussing on how the Pringles chip was actually designed by a supercomputer to create less mess - perfect for gamers.

Ahead of the launch of this campaign, they wanted to drive conversation around the brand amongst the gamer audience and increase their credibility in the gaming space. This meant they had to prove they were a brand that really understood gamers – an audience who are a particularly cynical when it comes to brands entering their space.

One in three people are gamers. Every brand is trying to get their attention. Pringles, gamer’s favourite snack, decided to cut through the noise while at the same time show they understood the audience with a sound only the most dedicated gamers would recognise.

Before the Metaverse, the cloud, and ‘www’… playing games was hard work.

Decades ago, the first games were shared by recording the shrieking sound of binary code with a tape and loading it into a computer - the ZX Spectrum.

On the 40th anniversary of the ZX, Pringles woke up a generation of players to the ear-sacrificing efforts of the first gamers. We shared a collectable can of 8-bit Pringles using audio binary code. The 1.24 minute code became the soundtrack to a film, which was shared on social platforms. The original gamers would hear it, load it onto their vintage tech and reveal our message.

Gaming is as much about socialising as it is about play. From talking about streams and consoles, to in-game easter eggs, gaming culture happens on social platforms. To demonstrate Pringles credibility amongst hardcore gamers, we went in search of a passionate gaming conversation to generate buzz around.

When we did social listening, a frequent theme was gamers’ love for retro gaming. Despite today’s technology, gamers had an infatuation with the older models. There are dedicated podcasts, retro forums, and tonnes of hype around brands reviving classic old console models.

This wasn’t just mature gamer nostalgia. Even young gamers felt a real appreciation for where gaming originated from and wanted to be a part of it.

This led us to a key cultural moment for gamers: the 40th anniversary of the very first gaming console. We could cement Pringles into gaming culture by tying it back to where gaming was born.

Pringles, a favourite snack of gamers for years. To tease our ‘Stay in the game’ campaign we created something sure to get gamer’s attention and at the same time pay tribute to those who had stayed in the game since gaming began. We shared a snack, the Pringlesonic Chip, in the same way computer games were first shared; through audio binary code.

To create our shareable Pringlesonic Chip audio, we first needed to design the visual 8-bit message. The visual had to meet the highly restrictive requirements of the ZX Spectrum; exactly 256x192 pixels, within which only 2 colours of the ZX palette of 15 colours could occupy an 8x8 grid of pixels at any one time.

The image was then translated into binary data, and coded in assembly language. This was compiled into a tape file and converted to our audio Pringlesonic code. In short; every pixel became a ‘blip’ of sound. All the ‘blips’ combined to create a unique shrieking sound recognisable only to the ZX Spectrum…and, of course, its players.

Next, we edited a film specifically timed for the coded soundtrack. The 1 minute 24 seconds of screeching was launched into the world on 13th April through organic social with little explanation. If you know ZX, you know ZX.

Without much invitation, the sound of our organic social film gave the pioneering gamers enough motivation to dust off their ZX Spectrums, load our code and reveal the Pringlesonic Chip. They shared it, and their love for it, on socials for the appreciation of gamers alike.

Having only been live a few days, almost immediately gaming forums, gamer publications and even the UK’s #1 retro gaming podcast were talking about our ad.

Gamers dusted off their old ‘Speccy’s’ in droves and spent hours happily blasting ear-bleedingly loud screeching noises. Over 275 hours in fact. Just to decode our ad.

“I’ve spent way too much time getting this to load. Just like old times. It was beautiful.”

Although production ceased in 1992, we got gamers who still possessed a ZX to fire up their machines for our ad. A monumental achievement.

They were fully engaged. Our Tweets were 105x the category average Twitter engagement rate.

Then they told their communities. The Pringles brand began appearing in passionate gaming groups on social. Something even lots of media money can’t buy.

This earned Pringles its place in the gaming tribe.

“Off to Tesco to stock up on Pringles”