KitKat has partnered with creative agency Wunderman Thompson to reposition its ‘have a break’ campaign, with the ‘world’s first’ AI-powered staring contest.
Blink Break is said to be ‘a fun distraction from the mundane’ that gives people the chance to take a break from social media and go head-to-head in an AI-powered staring contest with animals of all shapes and sizes.
The news comes as many other brands look to entice new customers with AI, AR and VR experiences, like Perfect Corp’s most recent promotion for Top Gun: Maverick.
Built by Wunderman Thompson and using MediaPipe’s Face Mesh technology, the game is powered by a single camera input and uses machine learning to detect blinking in the human face. Whether it be with an owl, goat or lemur, the animals become increasingly more absurd as you progress up the levels of the challenge.
The chocolate brand have found from scientific studies that even small diversions from specific tasks can ‘dramatically’ improve focus, with most people turning to social media to break up their day. KitKat claim that Instagram is the most popular platform, specifically with Gen Z users, with nearly two-thirds of users (63%) scrolling through the app at least once a day.
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“KitKat has famously encouraged people to have a break since 1957, and this campaign shows a whole generation of digital natives the benefits of taking a break in one of the most relevant contexts for them.” KitKat global strategic marketing and communications lead, Wael Jabi, said.
Using #blinkchallenge, players are encouraged to share their results online and compete against each other to see who can take the longest Blink Break.
The interactive game launched across the chocolate brand’s global Instagram channel last week, with posts coinciding with ‘mid-afternoon slumps’.
Wunderman Thompson global chief creative officer Paul Shearer added: “Developing cutting-edge AI technology that responds within the blink of an eye is an unexpected move for KitKat, but gives the brand a chance to show up and show off their legendary positioning in a fresh and relevant way to a new audience.”
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