The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2024–2025
KitKat turns out-of-office emails into free-chocolate ASCII ads — Loeries Grand Prix
With no official holiday in the Gulf, KitKat hijacked out-of-office replies: ASCII-art emails with free-chocolate codes turn an inbox annoyance into a break.
KitKat (Nestlé Middle East) · Publicis Middle East
What it had to solve
In the UAE and Saudi Arabia the year-end holiday season is not an official holiday, so most employees stay at their desks while colleagues switch off and inboxes flood with out-of-office replies. Brand trackers showed KitKat's 'have a break' association was fading, especially with younger consumers.
How it works
In the UAE and Saudi Arabia the year-end holiday season is not an official holiday. Most employees stay at their desks while colleagues switch off, and their inboxes flood with out-of-office replies from people who are away. Brand health trackers showed KitKat's 'have a break' association was fading, especially with younger consumers in two markets where hustle is glorified and rest is undervalued.
KitKat and Publicis Middle East turned the dreaded OOO reply into the campaign itself. An online generator produced auto-replies written entirely in ASCII art and monospaced fonts — a deliberate choice so the emails rendered through corporate firewalls on any device — each one built around a personalised holiday scenario and carrying a promo code for a free KitKat, redeemable through the regional grocery app InstaShop.
The replies ranged from fishing trips to alien invasions, and they spread by the mechanism email already has: people forward them. Every forwarded OOO email became a brand impression KitKat never paid for, aimed precisely at employees still at work. The generator stayed open beyond December, for every break in the calendar.
By the end of the campaign the replies had reached 663,338 employees, more than 200,000 customized OOO emails had been sent, and 70,000 KitKats were redeemed. In October 2025 the work won a Grand Prix at the Loeries, the Middle East and Africa's creative awards, and it also took a Bronze at the London International Awards.
Why it lands
- The OOO reply is media the target audience must open: it is read by working professionals exactly when they cannot take a break.
- The mechanic gave the audience a role — colleagues generated and forwarded the ads themselves, so distribution was personal and free.
- It inverted a negative workplace ritual into positive brand meaning, performing KitKat's 'have a break' promise instead of claiming it.
- The technical craft mattered: ASCII art in monospaced fonts was chosen to pass firewalls and render on every device and email client.
What it did
663,338 employees reached, 200,000+ customized OOO emails sent and 70,000 KitKats redeemed; the campaign won a Grand Prix at the 2025 Loeries with no traditional media buying.
What you can take
Find media the audience must already open: rituals like the OOO email are personal, scalable and free to forward — hand people a tool that makes the ritual fun.
Since then
The generator stayed live for every break in the calendar, and in April 2025 KitKat relaunched the idea as 'The Break That Keeps on Forwarding' for the summer break. The campaign won a Grand Prix at the 2025 Loeries, where Publicis Groupe was named Regional Agency of the Year, and earned a Bronze at the London International Awards for digital creativity on a budget.
Sources
- KitKat 'Auto Reply_Break' — LIA 2025 entry
- KitKat Transforms Out of Office Emails to Give Desk Workers a Holiday Treat
- The Loeries 2025: Winners Announced
- KitKat Launched The Break That Keeps on Forwarding
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