Lay's turned its Netflix flavor launch into a brand heist across Saudi Arabia

Lay's wanted growth in a crowded Saudi salty-snack market and a stronger claim on in-home screen-time eating. It partnered with Netflix around Money Heist: Korea and launched three limited-edition flavors inspired by the show.

The clever move was to make the promotion behave like an actual heist. Science & Sunshine describes masked characters hijacking the factory, stores, billboards and social channels before the main film revealed that the crew had made the flavors for fans.

WARC reports the campaign used social takeovers, digital ads, TikTok, out-of-home, in-store activity and high-reach platforms including Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter. It achieved 2% market-share growth and 580 million media impressions.

Let the show steal the brand

The campaign turned media placements into plot points, so every touchpoint explained the product.

Scarcity and disruption matched the show world, making a snack launch feel like fan participation.

The idea attached Lay's to the viewing occasion instead of just to the entertainment property.

A licensed tie-in works harder when the borrowed story changes the buying environment, not just the package design.

The work was listed by WARC under MMA Smarties Saudi Arabia and had a later Dubai Lynx case page. Muse Awards also notes that the flavors sold out in less than a week and had to be restocked.