Hellmann’s Crashes Charli XCX Brat Tour With Homage to ‘Sandwich Bag’ Poster

Hellmann’s is so brat. 

As brat summer turned into brat fall – with the pop star who inspired a thousand memes, Charli XCX, taking her Brat arena tour to the U.K. – Hellmann’s became the latest brand to jump on one of the biggest social media trends of the year.

Unilever’s mayonnaise brand pulled off a guerilla stunt at Charli XCX’s tour stop in Birmingham, England, paying homage to the singer-songwriter’s banned tour poster featuring a clear plastic bag.

After some claimed a link between the imagery and drug use, the singer revealed in May that U.K. advertising regulators had banned the tour poster because the picture of the small transparent sachet “promoted bad things.”

She spoke out about the ban in a TikTok video that has since amassed more than 9.6 million views, countering that it was “obviously a sandwich bag” and adding the food item into the poster’s imagery, while urging fans to bring their own sandwiches to her shows. 

On Friday (Nov. 29), Hellmann’s joined the conversation by offering free “Club Classic” sandwiches – named after one of the tracks on the Grammy-nominated Brat album – to Charli XCX fans lining up outside Birmingham’s Bp Pulse Live arena.

The sandwiches came in Hellmann’s branded plastic bags that listed the pop star’s U.K. tour dates. 

The brand also sent the bags to influencers and ran ads outside the Birmingham venue that mirrored the album’s lo-fi pixelated visual identity and deadpan language. The tongue-in-cheek headline read: “Club Classic sandwiches and they’re the same but they have Hellmann’s mayo in them so they’re not.”

The goal of the campaign, created by agency Ogilvy UK, was to take part in a culturally relevant moment while reminding fans that Hellmann’s is the ultimate condiment to pair with sandwiches.

While the brat summer trend became saturated this year – with brands from Skims to plant-based sausage Field Roast and Vice President Kamala Harris jumping on the bandwagon – Ogilvy spotted a genuine way for Hellmann’s to stand out amid the buzz. 

“Brat has become a marketing playbook for pop stars, brands, and even politicians… but brands with no real allegiance were jumping onto the zeitgeist for clout,” Ogilvy UK global creative directors Alison Steven and Liam Bushby said in a statement.

They added: “But after seeing Charli XCX’s quick-witted TikTok post reimagining the focal point of her U.K. tour poster as a sandwich bag, we naturally identified an opportunity for Hellmann’s to enter the chat, because you can’t have a sandwich without Hellmann’s.”

Charli XCX later shared Hellmann’s stunt on her social channels.

Mayo, but make it fashion

Facing condiment challenger brands like food influencer Molly Baz’s newly launched mayonnaise line, Ayoh, Hellmann’s has lately ramped up a marketing strategy that taps into unexpected cultural moments.  

During London Fashion Week in September, Hellmann’s collaborated with London fashion brand Chopova Lowena to debut a handbag designed to hold a jar of mayonnaise. 

And in August, the Unilever brand partnered with Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis – who previously went viral for his joke about putting mayonnaise in his coffee – to launch the first mayo-inspired fragrance, Will Levis No. 8. 

“Tapping into pop culture can be a real winner when your brand has something meaningful to say,” Hellmann’s brand director Martin Bareau said in a statement. “We’re proud to be a 119-year-old mayonnaise brand that can still pull off a guerilla stunt.” 

Hellmann’s will also return to the Super Bowl in 2025, making its fifth consecutive appearance in the Big Game.