As global brands prepare for major sporting events, most continue competing over who will deliver the biggest spectacle, secure more sponsorship rights or produce the most expensive campaign. This time, Lay’s shifts the focus toward something far simpler and probably far more important to audiences: the shared experience of watching the game together.
Ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026, the brand unveiled The Epic Watch Party campaign, featuring real fans alongside Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Alexia Putellas and Steve Carell. The campaign was created by Slap Global, hungryman and Washington Square Films.
Instead of relying on a traditional celebrity campaign where famous faces simply reinforce the brand’s status, Lay’s is trying to build something that is becoming increasingly valuable in sports marketing today: the feeling that audiences are not just spectators, but part of the event itself.
That matters even more at a time when brands are finding it increasingly difficult to create authentic connections with audiences during major sporting tournaments. Consumers no longer automatically respond to sponsorships and celebrity appearances. What matters more now are experiences that feel spontaneous, social and close enough to the everyday rituals of fans.
That is why the campaign is not just trying to sell a product, but the ritual of watching football itself. The message is fairly clear: football may be played in stadiums, but the real emotion happens among the people watching the game together.
According to Alexis Porter, Global Vice President of Lay’s, the No Lay’s, No Game platform was originally designed to bring fans closer to the sport, players and personalities they love through experiences that feel authentic and entertaining.
This year’s campaign builds on earlier activations such as the Lay’s Fan of the Match programme and other fan experiences that helped the brand move closer to football culture, but now pushes the story even further toward community-driven experiences and shared moments.
At a time when audiences are looking less for perfectly produced advertising and more for a sense of collective experience, Lay’s is clearly trying to position itself not simply as part of the match, but as part of the atmosphere surrounding it.
And that is where the greatest value of sports marketing is being created today. Not in being the loudest brand in the room, but in becoming part of a ritual audiences already love.
