Lipton Unleashes SOS Squad to help 'Save Our Summer'

Summer brings with it many of the good things in life: warm weather, days on the beach, fun in the pool, and al fresco dining. But in our enthusiasm for the season, we can forget that it also brings plenty of gripes that we could definitely live without and for these, Lipton Ice Tea is here to “Save Our Summer (SOS)”.

adam&eveDDB’s new pan-European campaign for the brand, created in collaboration with Designbridge & Partners and OMD, centres on an SOS Squad from Lipton who are here in their bright yellow uniforms to take away those niggles and leave only the fun bits of summer to enjoy.

In five separate commercials running across Europe, Lipton’s SOS Squad jumps into action to rescue workers and beachgoers from common summer problems, always finding solutions that are humorously over-the-top.

Whether it’s dressing in a shark suit to clear the crowds from the pool, installing a giant fan to blow away a tiny patch of sand from a woman’s leg, setting off the sprinklers at work, or donning a cloak made of sliced bread to provide a pigeon decoy, the Lipton team are here to make everything better.

Mark Shanley, creative director at adam&eveDDB said: “It’s a bold departure from past work on Lipton Ice Tea, which has depicted a more idealised version of summer. Let’s face it, some bits of summer suck, and by using humour to face the more troublesome truths of the season we are keeping Lipton Ice Tea’s summer spirit alive while delivering a more memorable take on a much-loved summer drink.” 

The squad’s theme tune, a remix of the anthemic 90s hit ‘Ice Ice Baby’, provides the soundtrack each time the yellow uniforms signal that Lipton has arrived to “Save Our Summer.” The SOS Squad will be also showing up across Europe handing out bottles of SOS-themed Lipton Ice Tea. The packs will promote “summer-saving” rewards and prizes you can win with Lipton.

SOS is a media-to-shelf campaign putting an absurd Lipton SOS squad central to solving summer niggles.  The Lipton squad are armed and ready for action and will pop up, to save summer emergencies in TV advertising, through creator-led content, at sampling events and at festival experiences. 

adam&eveDDB’s campaign responds to research carried out by Lipton Ice Tea to identify the most annoying summer niggles for key European countries. Sweat, stuffy offices and overcrowded beaches and pools topped the list and gave Lipton Ice Tea a summer purpose.

The campaign which spans from TV advertising to on-shelf activity launches on 15th June across Europe. It will reach over 200 million customers in France, Turkey and Poland alone. As well as TV and online films, the campaign will feature Snapchat filters, TikTok activations, weather-triggered outdoor and digital adverts, sampling activations, in store and on-pack marketing all aimed at driving sales of Lipton Ice Tea during the key period of the European summer.

Cathy Graham-Kidd, marketing director, said: “After a long cold winter, we all want summer to be perfect - and yet it’s often the small things that get in the way of that!  So, Lipton Ice tea is ready, willing and able, to save your summer from thirst emergencies - and many other summer niggles - by any means unnecessary.  In fact, the more bizarre and over-the-top the solution, the better.  The tone of this campaign is playful, cheeky and entertaining – and we’re excited to work with content creators and entertainers to make it hyper relevant within our markets.’

 adam&eveDDB London worked with an integrated team of agencies including Designbridge & Partners and OMD to bring the campaign to life for Lipton, which is a joint venture between Pepsi and Unilever.

Credits

Lipton 

Strategic Global CMO: April Redmond

Senior Marketing Director: Cathy Graham-Kidd

Global Head of Music & Entertainment: Ellen Healy  

Senior Manager: Kevin Evans  

Head of Marketing Communications: Iwona Zbierska

Marketing manager: Elvira Popova

Marketing Manager: Iuliana Dragomir,

Global Digital Marketing Manager: Galina Ryazanova,

Insights Consultant: Alexia Anghelakhou  

Global Brand engagement Director: Victoire Binet Lemay

adam&eveDDB 

Chief Creative Officer: Richard Brim

Creative Director: Mark Shanley,

Creative: Jeppe Vidstrup,

Creative: John Trainor Tobin

Social Creative: Judith Tulkens,

Global Planning Partner: Sarah Carter

Senior Planner: Liora Ingram,  

Producer: Payton Cox

Chief Executive Officer: Miranda Hipwell

Global Managing Partner: Deborah Kerr

Global Business Director: Flemming Lerche,  

Account Director: Max Sullivan

Account Director: Scarlett Aldridge

Account Executive: Jude Green

Production Company: Agile Films 

Director: Fatal Farm

DOP: Theo Garland

Executive Producer: Andy Eaton

Producer: Emma Engelmann

Production Manager: Igor Degtiarev

Lead Editor: Martin Fickling

Editors: Mossie Cassidy, Jayden Dayle

Post-production Coordinator: Charlie Evans

Service Company: Romance Films

Executive Producer: Rozanne Rocha-Gray

Producer: Leanne Sanders

Production Manager: Nomtha Dano

Production Coordinator: Tenille van der Walt

Cast Coordinator: Portia Cele

1st AD: Craig Brorson

Focus Puller: Frank Gardner

DIT: Rusty Ruthven

VT Operator: Thando Ntombela

Key Grip: Craig Bekker

Gaffer: Oliver Wilter

Production Designer: Maria Labuschagne

Wardrobe Stylist: Gabby Zarandah

Hair & Make-up: Saskia Buxton

SFX Coordinator: Michael Mostert

Marine Coordinator: Jason Martin

Animal Handler: Garin Munster

Unit Manager: Derek Raeburn

Colour, VFX, CG & Sound: Absolute
Colourist: Juliette Wileman
VFX Supervisor: Peter Smith
VFX Lead: Jasmine Cooper
2D Artists: Gustavo Ribeiro, Nick D’Aguiar, Samantha Meisels

Head of CG: Rebekah King-Britton
Lead CG Artist: Keith Rogers
CG Artists: Tony Atherton, Heidi Prescott, Ben Mars, Baptiste Jaquemet
Sound Designer: Ian 'Arge' Hargest
Executive Producer: Sally Heath
Producer: Maddie Godsill

adam&eve DDB Studios

Executive Producer: Ludovica Melica

Producer: Dylan Pugh

Editor: Yasmine Lehouag

Head of QC: Stuart Moore 

QC: Alysha Seth, Chloe Maudsley

Asset Manager: Gemma Hughes

Music: Big Sync

Senior Music Supervisor: Alicia Leinot 

Artist: Will Hyde

OMD 

Managing Partner, Strategy: Carly Whiteford

Executive Director: Sakshi Bhambhani

Account Manager: Duncan Ralph

Design Bridge 

Design Director: Stuart Bolt-Palmer

Senior Art Director: James Cooney

Client Business Director: Linda Rytterstig 

Client Director: Katy Gurney

Senior Client Manager: Stuart O’Malley,  

Senior Designer: Emily Squirrell

Designer: Hamish McEachern

Porter Novelli 

EMEA CEO: Sarah Shilling 

Director: Emma Fenny,

Account Director: Zoe Edwards

Account Director: Aggie Holland,

Billion Dollar Boy 

Senior Account Director: Maxime Rozencwajg

Account Director: Georgina O’Neill

Senior Account Manager: Eimear McCourt

Account Manager: Faith Lorainey

Account Executive: Helena French 

Associate Creative Director: Rowland Smith

Production Director: Sasha Dunn