... I completely missed the real reason for the upgrade to the design for Lay's bags of chips.
I distinctly remember being taking aback in the 7-11 the first time I saw the row of half-decapitated faces grinning back at me. Maybe it's my affinity for 'The Walking Dead' ... or maybe it's that I'm a well documented Bat-fan who knows full well that there's a villain out there trying to get folks to die laughing (that's my attempt at Joker-izing the campaign in the accompanying image).
Of course it turns out that the whole thing was a well orchestrated (although maybe not well publicized) marketing campaign where you were supposed to take your own picture with the bag in front of the lower part of your face and to post said picture socially (as the kids do nowadays), because it was a fundraiser for Operation Smile.
Which all makes sense AFTER the fact -- but it doesn't diminish the fact that I found it all a tad creepy at the outset.
DESPITE MY MISGIVINGS, THEY RAISED A MILLION DOLLARS:
https://www.smilewithlays.com/
OF COURSE IT MAKES SENSE AFTERWARDS:
https://www.operationsmile.org/
OTHER CREEPY MARKETING:
https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/react-creepy-marketing-personalisation-goes-far/
