For the Super Bowl, instead of following years of established advertising wisdom, Skittles skipped the 30-second TV ad, and made a full 30-minute Broadway Musical.

While everyone else was doing TV ads, we created a musical with 40 minutes of original music and lyrics, sung by a 17-member cast and live band in a genuine Broadway Theater.

We started by announcing our show with Times Square billboards and branded tour busses.

And we sold tickets. People spent over $200 to see an ad, and the show sold out in 72 hours.

As buzz built, we announced our celebrity star. Then, we released a full music video of the title track ‘Advertising Ruins Everything.’

And for the millions who couldn’t attend the show, we released the full original cast recording album on Spotify.

On Super Bowl Sunday we debuted our live show, and even sold authentic souvenirs– T-shirts, posters, vinyl records.

The Super Bowl is seen as marketing’s biggest stage. For over 50 years, brands traditionally spend $5 million dollars for a 30 second TV ad and the 100 million eyeballs that come with it. We wanted to create even longer and more meaningful engagements without having to pay $5 million for a TV spot. So we created an entirely different stage. One built not on TV like everyone else, but around original music and live musical performance. So could a musical ad on Broadway generate Super Bowl sized conversation without the Super Bowl sized spend? By creating a new stage for Super Bowl advertising, we ended up with over 2.5 billion earned impressions - more than 25 X the viewership a TV ad receives on the big game. And more importantly, a 5.6% rise in Skittles consumption.

THIS MIGHT’VE BEEN A BAD IDEA

INTRO

Have you ever been asked to make a skittles ad

Dressed like an animal, not sure if you feel angry, or just sad

And your agent Brian urged you to say yes

It’s for the Big Game, after all, and it could be a big success

But you get out on the stage and you realize what you’ve done

This ad will NOT be on TV, this ad will NOT be number one

And you’re sweating off your tail, because you’re dressed up

like a cat

Have you ever felt like that?

Well I have

Yes I have

CHORUS 1

This might have been a bad idea

This Skittles Broadway thing could end my whole career

And now I’m seeing things just a bit more clear

This might have been a bad idea

BRIDGE

I’ll never work again, no one will hire me

No one will want The Skittles Guy in their movie

I’m gonna lose my house, crash on my neighbor’s couch

Selling my plasma and living off of lunch meat

I’ll kill my agent Brian, then I’ll go on the run

I’ll grow a beard so no one can recognize me

You’ll end up in a prison

This was a bad decision

Thank you Skittles for ruining my entire life

CHORUS 2

This might have been a big mistake (BODEGA PEOPLE: I think

you’re right)

Like eating pancakes with a glass of lemonade

The worst decision that I ever could have made

Yes, this might have been a big mistake

CHORUS 3

This might have been the worst idea (BODEGA PEOPLE: It

definitely was)

Like a holiday in North Korea (BODEGA PEOPLE: Just goin’ to see

the sights)

Sometimes a thing turns out exactly as you fear

This might have been a bad idea

OUTRO

And I feel stupid dressed up like a cat

Have you ever felt like that

MUSICAL SCENE

WOMAN: Is this something you do often? Walk into small grocery

stores and start singing?

MICHAEL: I don’t know. Sometimes. Hmm. I have to say, these are

pretty good. Yeah wow. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo,

violet. Most of those colors are represented here.

WOMAN: Mm-hmm. Those have not been paid for yet.

MICHAEL: Wow. Maybe I’m overthinking this whole thing. Maybe it

could be really... really… amazing

THIS MIGHT’VE BEEN A GREAT IDEA

CHORUS 1

This might have been a great idea (BODEGA PEOPLE: But prob’ly

not)

This Skittles Broadway thing might change my whole career

It could be the biggest hit that Broadway sees all year

Yes, this might have been a great idea

CHORUS 2

This might have been the perfect choice (BODEGA PEOPLE: Or maybe

not)

I can taste the rainbow and it makes my soul rejoice

Five fruit flavors the entire world enjoys

This ad might have been the perfect choice

BRIDGE

I’ll do the late shows, and all the other shows

I’ll win a Tony, everyone will love me

Win every Nobel Prize, even the one for doctors

I’ll buy a fleet of Croatian helicopters

Start dating RBG

She’ll be his baby mama

I’ll share some Skittles with the freaking Dalai Lama

I’m gonna be the king, the king of everything

Thank you Skittles for making me the king of everything

And I feel good being exactly where I’m at

Have you ever felt like this?

1

ADVERTISING RUINS EVERYTHING

CROWD

Well it’s 2 o’clock on game day, and here we are

At a theater on West Forty Third

And we drove here from Jersey with hope in our hearts

Now we’re standing like idiots out on the curb

And that guy in the cat suit was totally rude

And the songs were all totally lame

We were duped once again by a marketing stunt

And Skittles--

MICHAEL WALKS OUT, HEADING HOME, POSSIBLY IN SWEATSHIRT AND

JEANS, CARRYING A DUFFEL BAG. THE CROWD SPOTS HIM.

CROWD (CONT’D)

--and you sir, are to blame

INTRO

But you paid for this show, and you knew what it was

It says “Commercial” right there on the thing

You see ads every day, they’re all over the place

So, I don’t know why this time it should sting

MUSICAL SCENE

MAN: Okay, right. So now it’s our fault that Skittles betrayed

us.

MICHAEL: Betrayed you?

WOMAN: Yes, betrayed us. Our whole day is ruined now, plus we’ve

all been betrayed.

MAN: I don’t know if I could ever trust a faceless,

multinational corporation again.

MICHAEL: Oh c’mon… I thought everyone in America loves these

“Big Game” ads.

WOMAN: Oh, so now we’re Americans?

MICHAEL: What? I honestly don’t understand why you’re so upset.

2

CROWD

Because advertising

It ruins everything

Yes, advertising

Ruins everything

Advertising

Ruins everything

Advertising

Ruins everything

COUNTERMELODY 1

But companies like Skittles all need advertising

Look it up friends, it’s called free enterprising

It’s just a commercial, stop your moralizing

I don’t see the problem with advertising

CROWD PERSON 1

It ruins the web and it ruins TV

And it fills our inboxes with SPAM

And there’s nothing we hate more than each tiny paid for

Targeted ad served up on Instagram

CROWD PERSON 2

It stalks me online like some sad lonely ex

Tracking my every move

It knows what I eat and the size of my feet

and it’s inside my brain and I do not approve

CROWD

Advertising

Ruins everything

Advertising

Ruins everything

COUNTERMELODY 2

What do you want from me?

I’m just doing my job

I was hired by Skittles, I’m caught in the middle

You ill-tempered mob

CROWD PERSON 3

It makes me spend money I don’t even have,

Buying hundreds of shoes I don’t need

Which wouldn’t be bad if I wasn’t a dad

With a wife and three children to feed

3

CROWD PERSON 4

It shows me how perfect a woman can be

And reminds me how perfect I’m not

I wish I was happier, but I feel crappier

With this new face that I bought

SOLO

What have I done?

What if they’re right?

What if I ruined Broadway by being in this ad tonight?

I see what you’re saying

And I make you this pact

I will never make an ad again, so long as I can act

CHORUS - MICHAEL

Because… advertising

It ruins everything

CHORUS - MICHAEL AND CROWD

Yes advertising

Ruins everything

Advertising

Ruins everything

Advertising

Ruins everything

(repeat)

COUNTERMELODY 3

Boy I really hate brand advertising

Everything about it is demoralizing

But here’s one thing I’m just now realizing

Wouldn’t it be great if we could Taste the Rainbow? (CROWD:

What?)

Five fruit flavors that are deliciously surprising (CROWD: No!)

The perfect treat for this anti-capitalist uprising

CROWD

Oh my god, he’s still advertising!

4

MUSICAL SCENE

WOMAN: Everything’s all just a big musical ad to you, isn’t it?

MICHAEL: Well if you’re referring to the big musical ad we’re

in right now, then yes.

MAN: What? You might be in a Skittles ad, but I definitely am

not!

MICHAEL: Then why are you wearing a Skittles shirt?

MAN: It was a… gift from my daughter…

MICHAEL: Look I’m sorry to tell you this, but you don’t have a

daughter.

MAN: What?

MICHAEL: Yeah. You’re an actor named Rob Smith. You do have two

nephews, but you’re not very close.

MAN: No. That can’t be.

MICHAEL: Everything you think, everything you say, it’s all been

written by the Skittles marketing team to get Game Day PR buzz.

LADY: But, what about free will?

MICHAEL: Sorry.

MAN: But you stood on that stage and you sang about how much you

hated this whole thing.

MICHAEL: Yeah, that’s called acting.

MAN: (Still angry but also impressed.) Oh. Then well done! It

was actually very convincing.

TRAIN MAN: (Shakily:) What about me? Am I real?

MICHAEL: Yeah no, you’re actually real. I don’t know where you

came from.

WOMAN: You’re a terrible person. First you ruined our Sunday

with this shameless Skittles stunt. And then you shattered the

5

tenuous façade of our fictitious human experience. And you also

made us miss the Game.

MAN: Somebody has to pay!

THE CROWD IS UPSET. THEY BEGIN TO PUSH TOWARD MICHAEL, WHO

BEGINS TO GET A LITTLE NERVOUS.

MICHAEL: (Getting scared:) Okay, calm down. Advertising is just

a -- you know -- thing we have to live with.

MAN: Get him!

MICHAEL: (Desperately trying to stop them:) A necessary evil in

this society in which we choose to live.

WOMAN: I hate you for making me see the ugly truth!

TRAIN MAN’s WIFE: I want to see other people!

MAN: Get him!

MICHAEL: (calm, at peace with his fate.) I forgive you for what

you’re about to do!

MAN: What? That just makes me more angry!

MOB:

Yelling “tear him apart!”, “get him!”

-END Musical Scene1

THIS DEFINITELY WAS A BAD IDEA

EMOTIONAL SOLO

I felt the glory on the stage,

A candy ad for a brand, new age

A thing that’s never been done

Stardom was within my reach

I’d written my acceptance speech

The audience and I were one

And yes, I tasted the rainbow

I saw firsthand the way the colors glow

Purple, orange, yellow, green and red

A man learns what his limits are

When he tries to become a Super star

But instead he ends up... dead

LADY

This definitely was a bad idea

‘Cause I wasted two hundred bucks to sit here (MICHAEL: And also

‘cause I’m dead)

SKITTLES CEO

This ad won’t help us reach our sales goal for the year

CHORUS

This definitely was a bad idea

This definitely was a bad idea

WOMAN

‘Cause the show was boring and unclear (MICHAEL: And it resulted

in my death)

FOOTBALL PLAYER

I missed the game in Atlanta to be at this premiere (MICHAEL:

I’m dead)

CHORUS

This definitely was a bad idea

This definitely was a huge mistake (MICHAEL: I’m a ghost with a

bunch of heavy chains)

JERSEY MAN

We should’ve just gone for a really nice steak (MICHAEL: And I

should’ve stayed alive)

2

BLAKE

I helped kill Broadway and I feel like such a fake (MICHAEL: You

also helped kill me)

CHORUS

This definitely was a huge mistake

MUSICAL SCENE

ONE OF THE CHARACTERS LOOKS AT HER PHONE.

Hey, are you guys seeing this? An article in Business Insider

says Skittles sold 587 packs at the concessions during the show.

THIS TRIGGERS A MONTAGE OF DIALOGUE, RECORDED VOICES, NEWS

SOUNDBITES, SOCIAL MEDIA CLIPS, ETC. THAT BUILD AS THE

MUSIC BUILDS.

That’s not even half the audience.

It’s better than nothing.

Yeah, I guess so. Or is it?

600 packs is pretty decent. This has been a tough year for

consumer-packaged goods.

Guys. My mom just called me and told me the show sold nearly 600

packs of Skittles.

600 packs?

Yeah, almost. This is incredible.

The people who work at the concession stands deserve to be

recognized.

(News voice) A silver lining in the Skittles advertising stunt

that resulted in the death of actor Michael C. Hall.

600 packs! Those 600 packs really give meaning to Michael’s

life.

(News voice) An almost imperceptible rise in Skittles sales.

Someone in the lobby just bought another pack.

3

600 packs! Nearly 600 packs.

Thank you, Michael, for raising Skittles sales by nearly 600

packs.

Thank you, Michael, you did it.

The bill proposing funding for a new high-speed rail system was

roundly rejected by a bipartisan committee.

Thank you, Michael.

CHORUS

This Skittles ad sold nearly 600 packs

We should all be patting each other’s backs

I’m wearing a moldy suit with polyester slacks

‘Cause this Skittles ad sold nearly 600 packs

This has been a really tough year for snacks

But together we sold 600 packs (SOMEONE: Or a number close to

that)

Could someone water my ficus and maybe feed my cats? (SOMEONE:

Feed his cats!)

‘Cause this Skittles ad sold nearly 600 packs