Chew & Play
- Brand
- Tic Tac
- Year
- 2018
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Food & Drink
- Mechanic
- Mini-Games
- Platform
- AR & VR
- Agency
- TBWA/CHIAT/DAY New York
- With
- Monks
- With
- Ferrero
Objective
In February 2018, Tic Tac moved beyond its breath-mint identity to launch Tic Tac Gum under a new platform called "Chew and Play." The brand needed to build awareness and engagement with Gen Z on a channel that audience already lived in, so it looked for a way to turn the product's core action — chewing — into entertainment rather than just advertising around it.
Solution
The player opens Snapchat, either by swiping up on an in-app ad or scanning a Snapcode, which unlocks one of two Tic Tac Gum lenses. Pointing the front camera at their own face, the player starts chewing, and the lens reads the motion of their jaw to push an 8-bit character forward through obstacles — no tapping or tilting the phone. One lens, Spearmint Jungle, sends the character running through a jungle course; the other, Cool Watermelon Water Ski, sets it skimming across water. Each level adds speed and obstacles, so the session runs until the player's character trips up or they stop chewing.
- 1
The player reaches the lens either by swiping up on a Tic Tac Gum ad in Snapchat or by scanning the campaign's Snapcode directly.
- 2
The front camera opens and an 8-bit game scene overlays the player's face — a jungle in Spearmint Jungle or a lake with water skis in Cool Watermelon Water Ski, depending on the flavor selected.
- 3
The player controls the character not with taps or tilts but by chewing: the camera tracks jaw movement, which propels the character forward through a stream of obstacles.
- 4
The run gets progressively harder the longer the player keeps going, requiring a sustained chewing pace to survive later levels.
