Lay’s Reimagines FIFA World Cup Marketing Through Fan Participation

Lay’s latest FIFA World Cup campaign, “The Epic Watch Party,” centered on bringing football fandom into real world moments through a large scale activation featuring Alexia Putellas, Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Steve Carell alongside unsuspecting fans.

The ad spots that launched last week, showcase a broader shift in how the brand approached audience engagement, focusing less on traditional targeting models and more on fan behavior and participation.

Instead of prioritizing interruption-based advertising, Lay’s focused on embedding itself into existing fan rituals tied to the FIFA World Cup. The brand identified group chats, messaging apps, social feeds and grocery shopping trips ahead of matches as key moments where fans were actively planning and engaging with watch party culture.

The campaign’s upcoming South Florida supermarket activation is expected to reflect that approach. Rather than functioning as a traditional paid placement, the activation will create an unscripted experience with real fans in a familiar environment tied directly to match day preparation. The broader campaign will also extend into digital and mobile experiences designed to meet consumers in the moments where fandom is already taking shape.

According to Alexis Porter, VP of Lay’s Global Foods Group, the strategy was built around identifying where fans were already gathering rather than relying solely on demographic audience segments. That insight informed both the creative execution and media allocation across the campaign.

“That authenticity generated organic reach traditional media can’t match,” said Porter. “WhatsApp similarly taps into existing behavior and we designed an experience that felt native, not forced.”

For Lay’s, the campaign strategy centered on creating what the brand described as “scalable intimacy,” reaching millions of football fans globally while maintaining the feeling of a close, conversational experience. WhatsApp became a key part of that approach, allowing multiple football legends to engage fans in a format designed to mirror the dynamic of a real group chat rather than a traditional celebrity endorsement campaign.

Porter added that the strongest return on investment came from creating participatory experiences that made fans feel included rather than targeted, more specifically in the superfan economy. The campaign’s emphasis on scalable intimacy, connecting with consumers in everyday moments while maintaining global reach through high profile talent, became a core element of the strategy.

Each platform within the campaign ecosystem was designed to serve a different role in the broader fan experience. Physical retail activations were intended to create cultural moments in real world environments, while WhatsApp focused on driving ongoing daily engagement and social media amplified reach at scale. Porter said the brand prioritized investment in the channels where fans were engaging most authentically and participating organically in football culture.

Lay’s used high reach media channels to drive audiences into more personalized environments like WhatsApp, where the brand saw deeper engagement by positioning fans as active participants in football culture instead of passive viewers of advertising. Though it is not clear on how much the brand spent its advertising dollars on this campaign.

As a follow up to AdBuzzDaily’s story last month, Porter shared updated engagement figures tied to Lay’s Epic Watch Party Chat integration. According to Porter, more than 4 million fans across 120 countries joined the experience within the first 10 days following launch.

“What’s encouraging is fans are returning, interacting with content and sharing moments. We’re still 35 days out from the tournament, so we’re just getting started. We expect fans will be even more tuned in when the tournament is live.”