Quick insight: Twix Hazelnut is making its Swedish launch hard to resist with a playful outdoor campaign that turns a giant chocolate bar into the center of a curious mystery: it has been stolen by two squirrels.
When The Twix Bar Gets Stolen
Launching a new chocolate recipe usually means showing the product in all its delicious glory.
Twix decided to do something a little different.
To celebrate the launch of Twix Hazelnut in Sweden, the brand and JCDecaux Sweden created an outdoor campaign designed to surprise people rather than simply show them another product advertisement.
The campaign began with a giant Twix Hazelnut bar taking over an advertising poster.
Then something unexpected happened.
The original message disappeared and was replaced with a tongue-in-cheek explanation: the enormous chocolate bar had apparently been stolen by two squirrel mascots.
A Chocolate Bar With A Mystery
The idea immediately transformed the advertising space.
Instead of functioning as a conventional product poster, the execution created a small mystery for passers-by to discover.
Where had the giant Twix gone?
And why were two squirrels involved?
The humorous message gave audiences a reason to look twice and created a narrative around the product launch.
It also perfectly matched the indulgent and playful character of a new hazelnut-flavored Twix.
The Squirrels Hit The Streets
The story did not remain on the billboard.
The two squirrel mascots then roamed the streets of Stockholm, bringing the fictional theft into the real world.
This helped turn the campaign from a static advertising execution into something people could actually encounter while going about their day.
Passers-by could suddenly find themselves face-to-face with the characters supposedly responsible for stealing the giant Twix bar.
The result was an unexpected interaction between the brand and its audience.
Taking The Campaign Into The Stockholm Subway
The squirrels also made their way into the Stockholm subway, extending the campaign into one of the city's busiest environments.
Transit environments are particularly effective for campaigns like this because audiences encounter advertising while commuting, waiting and moving through shared public spaces.
By introducing the squirrel characters directly into that environment, Twix created another opportunity for people to discover the story.
The subway became more than a media placement.
It became part of the campaign itself.
Turning A Product Launch Into A Story
The clever part of the campaign is its simplicity.
Twix could have simply announced the arrival of its new Hazelnut recipe with a traditional product-focused advertisement.
Instead, the brand created a narrative.
First, audiences saw the giant chocolate bar.
Then the bar disappeared.
Finally, the squirrels appeared as the playful suspects behind the disappearance.
That sequence gives the audience something to follow rather than simply something to look at.
Why The Squirrels Work
The squirrel characters add an unexpected layer of humor to the campaign.
They provide a visual explanation for the disappearance of the giant Twix while making the activation feel playful and approachable.
More importantly, the characters help the campaign stand out in environments where people are constantly exposed to advertising.
A regular chocolate advertisement might be easy to ignore.
A giant chocolate bar that has supposedly been stolen by squirrels is much harder to forget.
From Billboard To Real-World Experience
The campaign demonstrates how outdoor advertising can become an experience rather than simply a message.
The initial poster creates curiosity.
The missing chocolate bar creates a question.
The squirrel mascots provide the answer.
And their appearance across Stockholm extends the story into the physical world.
This creates a natural progression between media, entertainment and real-world interaction.
Final Thought
Twix Hazelnut has found a playful way to make its Swedish launch impossible to ignore.
Rather than simply advertising a new recipe, the brand created a small story around it — one involving a giant chocolate bar, two mischievous squirrels and an unexpected journey through Stockholm.
The campaign proves that outdoor advertising can do more than deliver a message.
Sometimes, the best way to get people interested in a product is to make them wonder where it went.
And in this case, the answer was simple:
The squirrels stole it. 🐿️🍫
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