skills/campaign-canon/references/legendary-campaigns/cards/skittles-exclusive-rainbow-2019.md

---
id: skittles-exclusive-rainbow-2019
title: Exclusive the Rainbow
brand: Skittles
year: 2019
country: US
region: north_america
industry: cpg
pattern: [P09, P17]
category: integrated
idea_type: campaign
involvement: participation
channel: hybrid
duration: campaign
goal: [awareness, engagement]
budget: medium
emotion: [ironic_sincerity, belonging]
emotion_tier: 3
insight_domain: joy
media_epoch: social
awards: [unknown]
quality_score: 6
scalability: unique
risk: edgy
confidence: medium
quality: stub_enriched
source_url: https://www.nathaniellawlor.com/Skittles-Most-Exclusive-Ad-Ever
---

# Exclusive the Rainbow (Skittles · 2019)

## Insight
Super Bowl advertising is the most expensive, most-watched commercial real estate on earth. What if a brand made an ad only one person could see?

## Mechanic
For Super Bowl 2019, Skittles created "the most exclusive ad ever" — a live commercial performed only for a single viewer, Marcus Crandall, in his home. Everyone else watched a live stream of his reaction rather than the ad itself. The scarcity is the spectacle.

## Why it worked
Anti-advertising as advertising. By refusing to show the ad, Skittles generated more coverage than the ad itself would have earned. The meta-commentary on Super Bowl advertising is itself the brand's irreverent personality made structural.

## Steal
When you can't out-spend the room, out-weird it. The absence of the expected thing (the ad) becomes the story. Scarcity of access can be manufactured by design.

## Related
- Pattern: [[../MOC-pattern.md#p09]]
- Sibling: [[red-bull-stratos-2012.md|Stratos]]
- Sibling: [[snickers-hungerithm-2016.md|Hungerithm]]
- Emotion match: [[absolut-absolut-campaign-1981.md|Absolut _____]]

---

*Author: Serge Shima ([t.me/aimastersme](https://t.me/aimastersme) · [sergeshima.com](https://sergeshima.com) · [aimasters.me](https://aimasters.me)) · License: CC BY 4.0 — attribution required · Source: [smixs/creative-director-skill](https://github.com/smixs/creative-director-skill)*