Reel Ad of the Week

BBDO Chicago sends M&M’S into the Love Island villa

By Reel Chicago
July 7, 2026

(Courtesy BBDO Chicago)

The M&M’S Spokescandies have entered the Love Island USA villa, and, honestly, they may want to sleep with one eye open.

For this week’s Reel Ad of the Week, BBDO Chicago gives the Mars-owned candy brand a cheeky reality-show twist with “Hideaway,” a new campaign film created as part of M&M’S partnership with Love Island USA. Directed by PRETTYBIRD’s Rami Hachache, the spot drops the beloved candy characters into the show’s world of flirtation, confessionals, temptation and romantic paranoia.

The joke is simple and very M&M’S: the Spokescandies think the Islanders are into them, only to realize the attraction may be less about coupling up and more about, well, eating them. The film plays off the show’s familiar diary-room format, with the characters delivering confessional-style revelations from the hideaway. Inside the villa, romantic tension quickly becomes snack-based anxiety. Watch below:

According to BBDO Chicago creative director Abigail Chieppa, the Love Island universe gave the team a natural way to push the kind of adult humor that has powered M&M’S advertising for years. “Many of the Love Island circumstances — confessionals, vernacular, etc. — offered opportunities to maximize that,” said Chieppa.

She added that placing the walking, talking Spokescandies inside the villa created a comedy engine almost instantly. “Having the walking, talking Spokescandies within the villa environment and the double meaning of former Love Island talent being interested in eating them instead of coupling up with them also provided a natural environment for humor,” added Chieppa. “At the end of the day, M&M’S and Love Island are both deliciously irresistible. Put a bunch of temptation, chemistry and cheeky innuendos in one place and the jokes practically write themselves.”

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BBDO Chicago creative director Colin O’Toole said the show’s world offered the brand a perfect playground. “There’s a natural overlap between desire and hunger, which gave us endless ways to have fun within these iconic fan-favorite scenarios,” said O’Toole.

The campaign works because it does not just slap M&M’S into a popular TV property. It understands the language of Love Island: the dramatic pauses, the confessionals, the loaded looks, the overheated vocabulary and the idea that every interaction might mean something more. Then it lets the Spokescandies misread it all in the worst possible way.

For a brand built on playful character comedy, the match makes sense. M&M’S has always lived in a world where the characters are both mascots and potential snacks. Love Island adds another layer by turning that tension into romantic confusion.

The BBDO team said the biggest challenge was deciding which jokes to keep. “There were so many amazing opportunities between Love Island and M&M’S, but we had to prioritize what was going to have the biggest humor impact and feel most relevant for fans,” the team shared. “From shoot days to post-production timelines, there were so many additional jokes that we had to leave on the cutting room floor, but feel confident that the ones that made it into our final content are the best-of-the best.”

Beyond the film, the larger campaign includes gamified play-along watch party packs, streaming media integrations with pause ads connected to on-demand delivery, and social activations designed to join the real-time conversation as episodes unfold.

That broader ecosystem matters. Love Island is a watch-party show. M&M’S is a watch-party snack. The campaign connects the two without overcomplicating the idea.

That is why “Hideaway” earns this week’s Reel Ad of the Week. It is funny, brand-right, fan-literate and just weird enough to feel like something only M&M’S could pull off. After all, in the Love Island villa, everyone wants to be desired. The Spokescandies just have to hope nobody takes a bite.