Lay’s Saudi Arabia Teams with Netflix to Perform a Money Heist in Campaign from Science & Sunshine

Science & Sunshine has launched its latest project for Lay’s x Netflix to launch the new limited edition Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area flavours in Saudi Arabia - The Professor (Kimchi Noodle), Tokyo (Wasabi & Ginger) and Denver (Spicy Ranch). 

Leaning into the world of the Money Heist franchise, the agency created a disruptive integrated campaign to announce the new flavours by doing a heist and amplifying it across every touchpoint. The agency kicked off the heist with a stunt by 'stealing' all the Lay’s chips off the shelves in a few supermarkets and leaving a not so subtle hint - graffiti of the iconic Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area mask on the shelves. Then the agency hijacked Lay's Arabia’s Instagram account and left a few more clues, and did the same on their OOH across the Kingdom. 

When the internet was buzzing with theories and the supermarket shelves were restocked with new flavours, Science & Sunshine dropped a film showing people the backstory of what happened when the Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area crew stormed the Lay’s factory in Riyadh - this time the crew wasn’t stealing anything, but rather, creating three epic new flavours. 'Eye Witnesses' at the factory gave their statements to the press - we got it all on camera and amplified the main film with three follow up films on social media.  

The campaign also extended to on ground sampling at malls across the country as well as amplifications on social and Tiktok through influencers. 

Commenting on the campaign, Sohair Sharaf El Din, senior marketing manager, snacks, PC - AMESA, Pepsico said: “At Lay’s, we have been building occasion based communication through making Lay’s synonymous with screen time over the years. This year, we took it to the next level by partnering with Netflix and creating flavors that brought joy to our consumers. Partnering with Science & Sunshine brought the idea to life in the most exciting way creating an intriguing journey where both Lay’s and Money Heist Korea: Joint Economic Area worlds met in a 'Lay’s Heist'.”

The agency wanted to immerse Lay’s fans into that world of drama, heists, action and blur the lines between entertainment and reality. Working off the Lay’s communication platform “shows need Lay’s” we saw a natural fit between the storyline of the series and the launch of the new flavours to create a memorable and intriguing campaign for our Saudi audience. 

The campaign rolled out in Saudi Arabia in different phases starting in February, 2023. The first phase was the instore hijack, followed by social media & out of home. Phase Two was the release of the main reveal film and the follow up films on TV and all Lay’s social platforms, and Phase Three included on ground activations and sampling across the Kingdom.