Wrigley’s has signed Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher to introduce a new look for its Extra brand in a campaign that trumpets the health credentials of the sugarfree gum.
The former “That 70s Show” star will appear in an advert from 1 January that humoursly highlights the cleaning force of the sugarfree gum, cementing his breakup with a spicy pizza that has overstayed its welcome. The campaign reportedly costs £15m and will run for 16 weeks.
The brand push comes as Wrigley’s axes the Orbit brand and rebrands the products under the Extra range. It aims to exploit strong sales of Extra in the UK, which jumped 8.3 per cent to £203.83m this year in comparison to Orbit’s 12.6 per cent dip to £11.5m, according to Nielsen figures cited by The Grocer.
Kutcher’s deal with Wrigley’s follows in the footsteps of fellow celebrity Antonio Banderas, who became the brand’s first global ambassador last year when he fronted similar creative. Wrigley’s decision to concentrate promotions on fresh breath and white teeth stem from its wider “Eat drink chew” marketing strategy, which launched in 2011 to promote the health benefits of the Extra brand.
The Mars-owned brand is also set to benefit from the efficiency and effectiveness gains it expects to extract from its recently consolidated media planning account with MediaCom.
