Creative Showcase: CPG Meets World Cup

Firefox compatible

Client: PG Tips
Creative Agency: AKQA

PG Tips is one of the most widely consumed English teas. This online viral game, titled “Mug Shot,” provides entertainment for football fans at half-time. Set in a cozy British kitchen, with commentary from ITV Football commentator Clive Tyldesley, “Mug Shot” is a fun but furiously addictive variation on basketball, where the player has the time it takes the kettle to boil to shoot as many points as possible. Instead of a ball and hoop, in “Mug Shot” the player has to throw PG Tips tea bags into an exclusive PG Tips Football Mug, available free with special packs throughout May and June. Special features include Hot Spots, where players can bounce shots off the cupboards, toaster and oven hotplate, to unlock special moves and win extra points. It’s part of the PG Tips Half-Time Games, a series of six games, created by AKQA, to be played in the kitchen while the kettle boils at half-time.
-- Richard Hedges, group account director, AKQA

Creative Showcase is meant to be a teaching tool and an inspiration for our readers. We comment only on creative that we really love. Our panelists discuss what makes it great, but if they feel there were missed opportunities that would have made it better, we invite them to mention those. And finally, we seek out a wide range of opinions that reflect the marketplace for the panel, in order to provide constructive, useable feedback for agencies, clients and others involved in these creative pieces.

Right, then. Here's a silly little game that even a non-gamer twit like myself can manage whilst waiting for the kettle to boil during football halftime from Germany.

Okay, so actually it took me about a half dozen tries before I could regularly hit the "Hot Spots" in this promotional game and score some serious points. I think they got the level of play just about right, providing enough challenge but not making its inaccessible to the tea-drinking world at large. The point is, of course, to spend time with the brand, PG Tips tea, playing this addictive little online game. I sent my best score to a buddy, with the game's viral messaging element, and I await a tea bag toss off soon. 

The game involves the player guiding an arm that tosses a tea bag into a mug (shaped like a soccer ball) that appears in various locations around a kitchen. I found the mechanics fairly forgiving, which is good for a non-gamer klutz like me. Just aim the arm, select the power of the throw (they give you some early hints) and let the bag fly. Banking the tea bag off suddenly highlighted "Hot Spots" like the toaster, a cabinet or a kid's drawing hanging on the fridge, pays off in extra points and a little extra fun animation. The graphics were rich, and the running commentary that accompanies one's hits and misses is a kick. When the kettle on the stove goes off, time is up.

A serious gamer may quickly tire of the play, but for the rest of us, it's the right amount of difficulty, a mercifully short and humorous game that gives off a good vibe for the brand. PG Tips offers instructions and some download printable elements for other "offline" tea bag games, and that nifty soccer-shaped mug one aims at in the online game can be yours free with specially marked boxes of PG Tips at your favorite British grocer.

Cheers.
-- Kurt Indvik, general manager, iMedia

A brilliant, fun, creative advergame that combines the PG Tips brand, football (soccer) and (well, sort of…) American basketball. Tea and football in Britain are a part of life. The beauty of this fun little game is its simplicity and its tidiness. The commentary from the British sportscaster in the background is an extra touch. I liked the viral element of being able to sending this game to a mate through email. The other non-online games to play at home are quite humorous but great in how they incorporate the PG Tips brand-- even though the bags were used as a football. Some advergames don't involve the brand that much, but this one really does. After playing the game several times, I was dying for a cuppah-- and instantly I thought about going to the local shoppe or town centre for some PG Tips. And I live in Los Angeles! I know that the BBC is streaming the World Cup matches for free online, so office work productivity in the UK is probably down, and with this cheeky creative, probably more so. Whether you're a Brit, Anglophile, football lover or tea drinker, this creative shoots a winning goal!
-- Roger Park, news editor, iMedia