When Cristos’ cool mascot meets a confusing sidekick, a snack saga ensues

Eager to mark its presence in India’s highly competitive snack market Gopal Snacks introduced its own wafer brand, Cristos, in 2022. The Gujarat-based family-owned enterprise wanted to challenge the dominance of global giants such as Lay's, Doritos, and Pringles with this brand.

Jaydip Maheta, head of media and communications at Gopal Snacks, emphasised the strategic importance of wafers in the broader snack category. “Namkeen (fried snacks) often reflects strong cultural ties, like gathiya for Gujaratis and jhalmuri for Bengalis. However, wafers are a universally loved snack, enjoyed across ages, cultures, and geographies. It’s essential for any namkeen brand, including Gopal Snacks, to focus on wafers as a key sub-category,” he explained.

Currently valued at INR 30 crore, Cristos offers a range of flavours including salted, ‘African Mint’, and ‘Korean BBQ’. However, the company wanted to capture the imagination of the urban youth by launching more international flavours and introduced the ‘Mexican Chilli’ variant, which was also chosen as the focal point for the brand’s inaugural large-scale marketing push, due to its strong market performance.

It recently launched the ‘The world of Mexican chilling’ marketing campaign, which was conceived by Scarecrow M&C Saatchi and brought to life by director Rajiv Rao of Nirvana Films.

Scarecrow M&C Saatchi sought to carve out a unique mental space for Cristos, drawing inspiration from how brands like Coca-Cola and Kit-Kat are associated with specific emotions. Recognising the increasing desire for relaxation among the urban youth, the agency chose "chilling" as the campaign's central theme.

"With rising mental stress, the craving to just chill has skyrocketed. We saw chilling as an intriguing concept, much like taking a break. Our goal is to make Cristos synonymous with chilling—whenever, wherever you feel like unwinding, we want Cristos to be the first thing that comes to mind," said Manish Bhatt, the agency’s co-founder.

During their research on brand mascots, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi noticed that most are either illustrations, animations, or computer-generated. This observation led them to create Cristopher, which the agency maintained is the second human brand mascot in Indian advertising history, following the Onida Devil from the late 1980s. After auditioning nearly 200 candidates, Pratik Motwani was chosen to bring Cristopher to life, blending English, Mexican, and a touch of Gujarati and Marathi lingo into his character.

Believing that every great brand needs an anthem, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi developed a song that captures the essence of Mexican culture through elements like flamenco, guitars, trumpets, and accordions. The playful and quirky lyrics are designed to create a fun, light-hearted atmosphere—ideal for the urban youth's ideal chill session.

The six films depict Cristopher’s carefree lifestyle, culminating in the introduction of Cristos' Mexican Chilli wafers, backed by an anthem, cinemagraphs, GIFs, and short videos, all aimed at reinforcing the brand's message. The marketing campaign will extend across digital platforms, OTT, radio, outdoor, and print media.  

Campaign’s take: Gopal Snacks' timing to launch the marketing campaign for Cristos right after its March 2024 IPO is spot-on, given its goal to take Cristos global and carve out a slice of India’s rapidly growing snacks market. After all, the country’s snacks market, pegged at INR 42,695 crore in 2023, is expected to balloon to INR 95,522 crore by 2032, according to the IMARC Group.

Now, let’s talk about Cristopher, the human mascot. It’s a clever move—who doesn’t love a face they can recognise? Cristopher can give Cristos a personality, making it not just another wafer on the shelf but a snack buddy one can’t help but root for. Emotional connections? Check. Brand loyalty? Double check.

But then comes Buddy, the sidekick who’s, well, a bit of a head-scratcher. A roly-poly character pushing wafers, aka junk food? It’s a puzzling choice, and one that might leave health-conscious consumers a bit, let’s say, confused.

As for the dynamic duo’s on-screen chemistry—let’s just say it feels a bit like mixing oil and water. Some of the campaign's films, like ‘The Prankster’ and ‘The Artist’, seem to miss the mark on the whole "chilling" vibe. And ‘The Trickster’? Watching someone lose a cups-and-balls game with a see-through container is enough to make you wonder if Cristopher and Buddy need to take a break themselves.

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