Lay’s are one of the biggest snack brands in the world and account for 45% of the potato chip category.

The problem? Our generic “bite and smile” joy messaging was lifting the entire category, and the lack of distinction was making the brand vulnerable to competitors. As the cost of living increased, consumers started choosing cheaper “private label” chips. While they loved the Lay's product, they didn’t feel an emotional connection to the Lay’s brand that would warrant the price premium.

This led us to an ownable brand POV designed to drive distinction and make Lay’s feel worth paying more for. “Joy is a Simple Recipe” was based on the fact that Lay’s are a moment of simple joy in a world that overcomplicates joy.

Our challenge was to bring this POV to life in a way that would resonate emotionally with audiences across global markets.

To create this commercial, we conducted an extensive casting to find over 100 trained dogs of various breeds, each capable of delivering the precise expressions and emotions required. After making initial selections, we grouped the dogs by the style of the cars, as well as their sizes and colors, and then filmed them with their heads out of the car windows to see how their fur looked in the wind. Following this test, we chose 20 main dogs and 10 backups to handle potential issues related to the desert heat. On the shoot day, we had to coordinate them in a challenging choreography that involved cars and dogs, which was perfectly in sync to capture the essence of the idea. Their outstanding performances, captured in slow motion, perfectly conveyed the “simple joy” we aimed to depict, making the commercial a resounding success.

While the campaign is still in its earliest stages, preliminary testing results are overwhelmingly positive. The work is predicted to drive meaningful distinctiveness and increase brand appeal across markets.

We’re also loved among audiences across the globe, as evidenced by qualitative reactions to the final film:

“I liked the ad, as it made me feel happy and reminded me how good a bag of Lay’s chips actually is.”

“I love everything about this ad for Lay’s, especially the dogs in the car. I won’t stop looking at them.”

“I liked how it compared [the] simplicity of eating Lay’s to the happiness of a dog with its head out the window of a moving car.”