Flipping the Script: What a 10-Year-Old Skittles Ad Teaches Us About Bold Design
- Neil Fletcher
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
During the Super Bowl, every brand goes loud. Millions of dollars, celebrity cameos, and explosions. So how do you stand out?
You do what Skittles did in their iconic "Romance" commercial. You lean into the pure, unadulterated weird.
Quick recap: A guy throws Skittles at a girl’s window to get her attention. Classic rom-com setup. Cut to the inside: she’s catching them in her mouth. But so is her mom....and her dad....and a grandmother, ...a burglar, a cop, and... a gopher.
It’s bizarre, it’s hilarious, and it’s a masterclass in creative branding. Here is what we can all steal from it:
1. Disrupt the Boring Stuff
The ad hijacks a classic movie trope (the Romeo-and-Juliet window scene) and completely breaks it.
The Takeaway: You don’t always need to reinvent the wheel. Take a familiar design layout or concept, inject one totally unexpected twist, and watch people actually stop scrolling.
2. Lock Down Your Brand, Then Get Weird
This works for Skittles because they’ve spent decades owning "the unusual." Because their core identity is so rock-solid, they have the freedom to get chaotic in their campaigns without confusing anyone.
The Takeaway: Consistency isn't a cage. When your branding (logos, colors, vibes) is dialed in, you earn the license to get incredibly experimental with your content.
3. Keep the Product Center Stage
Strip away the gopher and the burglar, and what is the ad actually showing? People desperate to eat Skittles. The candy's bright colors and that distinct clink against the glass are the heroes of the whole story.
The Takeaway: Never let a clever concept overshadow the actual thing you're trying to sell.
Great design isn’t about shouting the loudest. It’s about knowing exactly who you are, knowing what people expect, and then giving them something delightfully different.
Want to bring that same "gopher-catching-candy" energy to your own brand's visuals? Drop us a message - let’s make something people actually remember.
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