Snickers Is Hiring a 'Chief Online Chill Officer' for Two Weeks

Snickers Ice Cream is looking to temporarily hire one fan to help the internet cool off as summer enters its final stretch.

Over the course of two weeks, the "chief online chill officer" will find heated internet moments — such as sports debates — and leave witty comments and coupons for Snickers Ice Cream.

The campaign structure

The campaign spotlights the Mars brand's Minis product, launched in January, and shows off the five available flavours.

The idea connects to Snickers' larger brand ethos: alleviating hunger to help with crankiness or irritation. Calming irritation online functions as a metaphorical extension of the product's core claim.

The role

• A paid position
• Running Aug. 24 to Sept. 3
• Hybrid, based in the Chicago area
• Interested individuals submit an application and short video via a dedicated link through Aug. 4

Chanel Gant, Mars Ice Cream senior marketing director, said:

"If you've spent more than five minutes on social media lately, you've probably realized the internet has absolutely no chill. Snickers Ice Cream Minis are all about delivering satisfaction in perfectly snackable bites, so we wanted to extend that same spirit online."

The problem: social media and irritability

The starting point is data. Social media use is linked to higher rates of irritability in U.S. adults. Snickers Ice Cream Minis is going to the source to help users relax in the final weeks of summer.

The chief online chill officer will run a social-forward campaign reaching consumers and adding a bit of levity to tense internet moments.

The 'little treat' economy

A category trend underpins the focus on Minis.

Smaller versions of common snacks are becoming more popular, especially among Gen Z consumers looking to treat themselves while being mindful of portion size and price.

This is part of a larger trend colloquially known as the "little treat" economy. Consumers, especially millennials and Gen Z, are spending more on small, comparatively inexpensive items such as fancy coffee or ice cream as larger purchases like houses become more out of reach.

A shift in consumption behaviour driven by macroeconomic conditions, absorbed at the level of product format.

Snickers' recent ice cream push

The brand has made other moves to promote its ice cream products in recent months.

• June: recruited a group of people all named Reese to try its new peanut butter offerings — chocolate squares and ice cream bars — as a dig at rival candy Reese's.
• April: launched a campaign around Snickers Peanut Butter and Snickers Peanut Butter Ice Cream, building on the long-running "You're Not You When You're Hungry" platform.

What marketers should take from it

Translate the brand platform into new contexts. A platform nearly three decades old was carried into online irritability as a new setting — extending an existing asset rather than inventing a new concept.

Write the job posting as the campaign. A two-week paid role costs less in wages than it generates in engagement through the application process itself. Requiring an application and video builds UGC into the mechanic.

Comment intervention lives or dies on risk management. A brand entering heated conversation invites backlash. On respecting community norms, see Building a Brand Presence on Reddit: Subreddits Are Not Ad Inventory.

Start from a real consumer grievance. "The internet has no chill" is not brand-invented language but existing sentiment. For another case of consumer language becoming media, see The Deodorant Ad That Renamed Subway Stations.