skills/campaign-canon/references/legendary-campaigns/cards/skittles-hide-and-seek-2008.md

---
id: skittles-hide-and-seek-2008
title: "Hide & Seek"
brand: Skittles
agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day
year: 2008
country: US
region: north_america
industry: cpg
pattern: [P11]
category: film
idea_type: execution
involvement: passive_view
channel: digital
duration: campaign
goal: [awareness, engagement]
budget: medium
emotion: [surprised, ironic_sincerity]
emotion_tier: 3
insight_domain: joy
media_epoch: tv_first
awards: [unknown]
quality_score: 6
scalability: universal
risk: edgy
confidence: medium
quality: stub_minimal
source_url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXEobcRZ2lc
---

# Hide & Seek (Skittles · 2008)

## Insight
TODO: Verify exact year. Part of Skittles' "Touch the Rainbow" campaign — a sustained absurdist platform that ran from the mid-2000s through the 2010s.

## Mechanic
A Skittles spot using hide-and-seek as the premise for an absurdist scenario — likely involving the transformation of objects into Skittles or an unexpected twist on the childhood game delivered with deadpan sincerity.

## Why it worked
The campaign's power came from consistency: every execution used a different absurd setup but the same straight-faced commitment. The "hide and seek" framing provides a familiar structure that the brand then fills with completely illogical content.

## Steal
Use familiar social rituals (games, conversations, transactions) as scaffolding for absurd scenarios. The audience's familiarity with the ritual makes the departure from it funnier and sharper.

## Related
- Pattern: [[../MOC-pattern.md#p11]]
- Sibling: [[metro-trains-dumb-ways-to-die-2012.md|Dumb Ways to Die]]
- Sibling: [[old-spice-man-your-man-could-smell-like-2010.md|The Man Your Man Could Smell Like]]
- 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)*