Skittles — Defining an Era of Creative Bravery

In the mid-2000s at TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, we stepped out from the long creative shadow of our LA office, led by the legendary Lee Clow. Under the leadership of CCO Gerry Graf and ECDs Scott Vitrone and Ian Reichenthal, we forged a bold new identity—quirky, irreverent, and unapologetically original.

The launch of the Skittles campaign was our creative watershed. It didn’t just establish a voice for the brand—it established a voice for the agency. Wildly inventive and beautifully absurd, the work helped put Chiat\Day NY on the global creative map. Skittles became a masterclass in offbeat storytelling and brand weirdness that audiences loved and the industry couldn’t ignore.

The campaign went on to win every major industry award, contributing significantly to us being named Agency of the Year in 2006. And perhaps more impressively, the Skittles work continues to live on—remixed, referenced, and revered as one of the most iconic advertising campaigns of its time.

Two spots in particular became instant cult classics:

• “Touch”: A man with the Midas touch, but instead of gold, everything he touched turned into Skittles. His tragic monotone delivery (“I can't hold my newborn baby boy”) struck the perfect balance between comedy and tragedy, turning candy into existential crisis.

• “Piñata”: A man made of piñata confesses to being attacked by a coworker with a bat in the break room. The deadpan delivery and surreal premise were pure Skittles, unexpected, uncomfortable, and unforgettable.