In a new TV spot created by BBDO New York for Snickers' “You're Not You When You're Hungry” campaign, rookie Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel (known as “Johnny Football” by fans) is transformed by sheer hunger into a spandex-clad aerobics instructor called “Johnny JamBoogie.” Just in time for the start of the 2014/2015 NFL season, Mars Chocolate North America has released the ad online and on national US television. It will also air nationally the night of the 2014 NFL Kickoff Game on Thursday the 4th of September. The spot marks the beginning of a brand new integrated digital and social media campaign centred around Manziel, which will highlight many more ways in which “Johnny Football” isn't himself when he's hungry.
In the new ad, Johnny Manziel (known as “Johnny Football” by fans) is transformed by sheer hunger into a spandex-clad aerobics instructor called “Johnny JamBoogie.”
In the spot (which you can watch yourself below), Manziel is shown enthusiastically leading a musical aerobics class in a highly exaggerated, camp manner (he actually pulls it off quite well), with elaborate dance steps and dramatic arm circles. The highly touted quarterback only snaps out of it when he's joined by a fellow Cleveland Browns player, who realises that “Johnny Football” isn't acting like himself due to a hunger that can only be fully quelled by a Snickers bar.
Snickers - “Johnny JamBoogie”
Roy Benin, chief consumer officer of Mars Chocolate North America, says that Manziel is “Literally synonymous with the sport of football due to his eponymous nickname, so fans everywhere should get a kick out of how hunger makes him take on a totally new persona." He thinks the ad is a fun and memorable way to reinforce the brand's role as an official NFL sponsor, and to showcase the hunger satisfying power of the product. Manziel himself, who was drafted in the first round of this year's NFL Draft by Cleveland, said he has always been a fan of the chocolate, peanut and caramel snack, and was thrilled to star in the commercial because it allowed him to play against type. He said he hopes “People have as much fun watching the ad,” as he did filming it.
Manziel himself, who was drafted in the first round of this year's NFL Draft by Cleveland, said he was thrilled to star in the commercial because it allowed him to play against type
This is not the first time BBDO New York has tapped modern sports giants to take part in their campaigns. In fact, earlier this month the agency released a similarly humorous ad for Foot Locker called “Short Memory,” which featured Houston Rockets star James harden and retired NBA greats Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen. The spot has racked up almost 5 million views since it debuted at the beginning of the month, and is very thematically similar , so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that the “Johnny JamBoogie” spot will follow in its footsteps.
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from Kidderminster in the UK. He always leaves the Snickers bars at the bottom of the Christmas “Celebrations” tin, but then he's never been a big nut guy.
