This weekend, Londoners were shocked to see Walkers’ latest billboard, suggesting it will swap its packaging for fan-favourite flavours Cheese & Onion and Salt & Vinegar.
The April Fools campaign was created by global creative agency of record VCCP, PR agency Good Relations and global content studio Girl&Bear, both part of VCCP. It consists of billboards which show the Walkers Salt and Vinegar crisps now on blue packaging and the Walkers Cheese and Onion crisps on green. Popular meme pages including Made In Poor Taste and Ends Humour have also posted images of what appear to be leaked shots of the new packs.
A point of historical controversy, many Brits believe that Walkers once swapped the colours back in the mid-90s, with several even claiming they remember a TV advert from Walkers where the two flavours ‘swapped shirts’ at a football match to announce the change. But Walkers has always maintained this switch never happened.
Fans of the brand have been reacting to the news on social media, with some rejoicing: “I hope this is real because it makes so much more sense” and “Guys this is the best news ever”. Whereas others have taken a more sceptical approach to the news: “NOOOOO WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT”, “You’ve literally confused the whole of England” and “Wow that feels so weird”.
Mark Orbine, executive creative director at VCCP, said: “Should salt and vinegar crisp packets be blue or green? What side are you on? We loved playing with this long-standing controversy, we’ve created a campaign that taps into nostalgia and the passion of crisp lovers everywhere this April Fools.”
