Break Better - KitKat, Nestlé | Clapboard Ad Archive

Break Better is KitKat and Nestlé’s global campaign for 2024, conceived by VML UK, which scales up the brand’s decades-old positioning around the importance of breaks to address the reality of modern life’s ceaseless demands on attention, launching first in the UK and rolling out to wider Europe, Canada, Australia, and adapting for further global markets. At the heart of this Confectionery and Snacks category campaign is a hero film in which a lone office worker trudges through a sea of workplace clutter — paperwork, sticky notes, and gadgets so omnipresent they magnetically cling to his body — as Queen’s I Want to Break Free punctuates his rising need for escape; the narrative’s tension breaks only when he opens a four-finger KitKat, at which point the burdensome detritus drops away, signaling renewed presence and clarity. This visual metaphor sits squarely in what Clapboard’s taxonomy classifies as FORMAT#3—Symbolize the Problem, transforming the intangible psychological weight of ever-present interruptions into an exaggerated yet instantly understood symbol rather than a literal depiction, a technique that distills the universal craving for quality respite in a media-rich landscape. The campaign insight is rooted in KitKat’s own Kantar research across five markets, which surfaces a stark truth: while most feel they take enough breaks, just 34 percent call those moments truly restful as many are lost to multitasking, time pressure, and digital distraction. Break Better’s media strategy is truly 360 — leveraging film, online video, out-of-home, social, and influencer activations — ensuring the campaign’s evocative call to not let life’s interruptions get in the way of a quality break lands at every relevant consumer touchpoint, amplifying the brand’s familiar promise Have a Break, Have a KitKat but with new urgency and modern relevance. With over 145,000 recorded views on YouTube, Break Better demonstrates clear resonance in a saturated landscape where attention is a finite resource. Clapboard rates this 71/100. As agencies and global confectionery brands alike compete for cultural space, Break Better stands as a confident reminder that permission to pause, rather than productivity alone, can be one of the most enduring and emotionally resonant brand territories.