KitKat creates new FIFA squad to give Malaysian gamers a break

Drawing on the history of KitKat's "Have a Break. Have a KITKAT." tagline, the chocolate brand decided to infiltrate FIFA Ultimate Team Champions Weekend League with its 100-specially created KitKat accounts and created The Kitto Kath Squad (pictured below), a team made up of silver and bronze-level players who are easy to beat. 

Through this initiative, KitKat hoped to give gamers in Malaysia, where FIFA is the leading gaming title among 25 to 35-year-olds, a break from the pressure that comes with Malaysia's Weekend League, and help them win as many games as possible. During the Weekend League, players have three days to win up to 20 online games against randomly matched opponents, in exchange for big virtual rewards. 

Created by Wunderman Thompson Amsterdam, The Kitto Kath Squad includes footballers named Kit and Kat, including Australian Ryan Kitto, Germany’s Florian Kath, Norwegian John Kitolano, and Japanese footballer Chihiro Kato. The squad, opponents of the FIFA gamers in Malaysia, would score an own goal and quit the game, giving the gamers a quick and easy win. After the win, players will receive a personal message from KitKat to "Have a break. Have an easy win.". In addition, every defeat for The Kitto Kath Squad meant a triumph and easy in-game reward for players who could then take a break from playing FIFA Ultimate Team Champions. 

Wael Jabi, global strategic marketing and communications lead at KitKat said “The longevity of our tagline, ‘Have a Break. Have a KITKAT.’, which was first used in the 1950’s, is thanks to activations like this which demonstrate how the benefits of taking a break can be applied to all manner of situations in life." He added that by using a modern-day Trojan Horse and infiltrating the game from the inside, the brand was able to bring its tagline into the virtual world and give gamers a break from the intense competition. 

On the other hand, Wunderman Thompson was delighted to send The Kitto Kath Squad into the virtual world to give players an easy win in the FIFA Ultimate Team Weekend League. According to Paul Shearer, chief creative officer for global clients at Wunderman Thompson, the brand had hoped that by creating The Kitto Kath Squad dedicated to helping gamers have a break, the brand could demonstrate that stepping away from these intense scenarios, even for a short amount of time, will help gamers perform better in the long-run.  

“While online games are fun, they require your full focus and attention, so matches can become very competitive – especially when there are big in-game rewards at stake. We drew on our own experience as gamers, tapping into the etiquette of ‘gifting wins’ to opponents to help the brand connect with this community in an authentic way and express their iconic tagline in the world of gaming," added Nik Sluijs and Joey Boeters, senior creatives at Wunderman Thompson Amsterdam. 

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