Image of McCain's new 'Vibes' chips: 'New chip/crisp combo snack thingies'

McCain Questions 'Chip or Crisp?' With New Vibes Range

The campaign by adam&eveDDB sees people comically trying and struggling to describe the new hybrid snack

By Creative Salon

14 May 2025

McCain is sparking a national debate about how to describe its new sharing snack, a hot chip/crisp combo called Vibes, with a campaign by adam&eveDDB.

Vibes are McCain’s biggest innovation in more than a decade and a ‘game-changer’ in the snacking category – combining the fluffiness of chips with the moreish crunch of a crisp.

The campaign is led by a 60-second TV ad, showing people comically trying and struggling to describe the new snack - and ultimately settling for “chip/crisp combo hot snack thingies”.

The film is directed by Si & Ad and produced by Academy.

The campaign also includes out of home activity, such as a special-build hand-painted mural, with a hatch to hand out McCain Vibes for passersby to sample.

The campaign will run across TV, BVOD, social/digital, audio, OOH, DOOH, PR and product sampling until June 8th.

BVOD, SVOD, and Online Video: For the first time, McCain is running a heavy-weight VOD plan, including hero spots in the BGT semi-final and final.
Digital and Social Media: A heavy-weight campaign across TikTok, Meta, Pinterest, and Snapchat, including a TopFeed on TikTok. The campaign kicked off with a LadBible partnership, engaging influencers to create funny and engaging content, reaching 9 million people ahead of the full launch.
Audio: A comprehensive audio plan across DAX, Octave, and Spotify, highlighted by an Off Menu podcast host read with Ed Gamble and James Acaster.

OOH/DOOH: A national 6-sheet and 48-sheet campaign, bolstered by LFDs in key city locations featuring UGC from social media, and a standout mural on Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch will also serve as an experiential space with a sampling hatch.

Media is planned by PHD, with Freuds providing PR and McCann leading social.

McCain has been working with adam&eveDBB for more than a decade and their long-standing partnership has resulted in consistent brand growth and multiple awards, including the Grand Prix at the 2024 IPA Effectiveness Awards.

Mark Hodge, Vice President of Marketing at McCain, said: “We’re excited to launch Vibes, our new hot snack made for sharing. It combines the best things about chips and crisps into one mouth-watering new product; the hot fluffiness of chips colliding with the flavour-packed crunchiness of crisps. The only thing is, that makes them quite hard to describe. We got to ‘chip/crisp combo hot snack thingies’, but now it’s over to the public to decide.”

Ben Tollett, adam&eveDDB Group Executive Creative Director, said: “Shout-out to new creative team Beth and Marika for coming up with the whole thingamydoodah. I'm delighted to have played a small part in their first ever integrated multi-channel watchamacallit.”

Credits:

Client: McCain     

Brand: Vibes

Project/Campaign Name: Indescribably Good Snacks

First Air Date: 21st April 2025

Client names and Job Titles:

Mark Hodge – Vice President of Marketing, Laura Koscik – Director of Marketing, Megan Bell - Senior Product Manager

Agency: adam&eveDDB

Creative: Ben Tollet, Bethany Kellaghan McGurk, Marika Di Leo

Production: Sally Patterson, Amy Galvin

Planning: Hugh De Winton, Catherine Willoughby

Chief Executive Officer: Miranda Hipwell