M&M’S is a beloved brand known for their candy-coated chocolates that melt in your mouth, but not in your hand. To tap into the growing large chocolate bar format, M&M’S launched its first ever line of M&M’S Chocolate Bars: tablet-shaped, breakable milk chocolate with M&M’S Minis visible throughout. While the iconic brand name and characters would remain familiar, this meant a new format, a new in-store placement, and a new treating occasion. The agency’s challenge was to convince chocolate lovers to embrace an unexpected take on a familiar classic.

The strategy began with M&M’S iconic tagline. First used over fifty years ago, ‘Melts in your mouth, not in your hand’ became one of the most recognizable taglines in the history of advertising. However, it only made sense because M&M’S had a candy-coated exterior that prevented it from melting in your hands. With the M&M’S Chocolate Bars, the decades-old promise could no longer be kept.

There was another iconic tagline that would work perfectly; unfortunately, it already belonged to KFC. The team’s strategy was to launch the company’s unexpected take on a familiar classic with the unexpected usage of a familiar tagline: M&M’S Chocolate Bar – It’s Finger Lickin’ Good.

The agency set out to develop a social campaign that was equal parts fun and disruptive. The campaign kicked off with a Twitter post announcing both the new product and the new tagline, sparking a flurry of responses ranging from confused to excited to cautionary. Amongst the responses was a post from the official KFC account questioning the potential need for legal action. While behind the scenes, the team had already received KFC’s consent and participation, on social it played out like a friendly but trepidatious negotiation over the ‘borrowed’ tagline. After a few tense posts, two brands ultimately arrived at a détente when M&M’S offered to deliver a large crate of their new Chocolate Bars to a nearby KFC location. Crisis averted.

In addition to the back-and-forth banter with KFC, the agency also created a tongue-in-cheek launch video and made a series of social posts on Instagram and Twitter, all using the co-opted Finger Lickin’ Good tagline, and all housed at fingerlickingood.ca.

It turns out that stealing another brand’s tagline causes quite a stir. This disruptive social campaign introducing M&M’S Chocolate Bars sparked conversations and sales. Driven largely by M&M’s Chocolate Bars, M&M’s total consumption grew +10% YTD and newsfeed engagement rates exceeded industry benchmarks by 247%. Outside of paid media, the team generated over 200,000 organic impressions and over 13,000 organic engagements.