Taking advantage of the arrival of a new season of Game of Thrones, we created a campaign in which the brand’s main characters, Red and Yellow, would declare war on the show in an attempt to avoid being eaten. Over the course of the seventh season, the characters would take over the brand’s social media accounts and post content designed to make people stop watching Game of Thrones, from spoilers to suggestions for other Sunday night activities, such as organizing your closet or cleaning out your inbox. All to keep people from watching the show with a bag of M&M’s at hand.

From the premiere to the season finale of the latest season of Game of Thrones, content was created and posted on M&M’s social media profiles. First, a declaration of war was made. Then, week after week, new posts would suggest other things to do on Sunday nights, like organizing your wardrobe or cleaning out your inbox (anything, as long as it wasn’t Game of Thrones). During each episode, posts were created and posted in real time, based on the most memorable scenes. And before the season was out, Red and Yellow would try one final gambit. The first M&M’s that no fan would dare to eat – candies decorated with the coats of arms of the major houses in the show – were sent to select people, in a specially designed box.

The campaign increased brand awareness by 57% and engagement with M&M’s social media by 147%, as well as impacting the public with 51 million impressions. What’s more, at the end of the campaign, people’s bloodlust still wasn’t sated: consumers swore to keep on eating M&M’s as they watched other shows, bringing the brand into watching moments for good. Red and Yellow may have survived and won the battle, but certainly not the war.