Some brands are just born with virality in their blood.

I’ve long admired today’s feature brand.

I first came across it when my brother-in-law Cam rocked up with a 6 pack of beer, handed me one and said “how good is this?”. He wasn’t talking about the beer, but the packaging. And he’s not one of us (someone who obsesses over brands and packaging).

Earlier this week, I wrote on Linkedin about Snackachangi crisps and it went almost instantly viral.

I had a niggling feeling that there was a much more interesting story there, so here it is.

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New work in the wild.

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That baby would be called GYM BOD. We designed their new Ultra High Protein NPD line after working on their master brand refresh last year. If you like ice cream and bold design, hit the link below to suss it out.

It started with a beer

The story begins with New Zealand comedian Leigh Hart, best known for creating wonderfully ridiculous television shows like Moon TV and Late Night Big Breakfast.

In 2016, Hart floated the idea of launching a beer called Wakachangi on Facebook. The response was so overwhelming that he decided to actually make it. There is an interesting parallel here to Liquid Death - it started with the same story.

What started as a joke became a legitimate beer business, eventually partnering with McCashin's Brewery in Nelson. By 2018, Wakachangi was reportedly selling 10,000 cases a week and had moved four million litres since its commercial launch.

Not bad for a Facebook shitpost.

Hart then figured that people drinking beer probably wanted something to eat. So he approached Griffin's, one of New Zealand's largest snack manufacturers, with the idea of creating a complementary range of potato chips.

SnackaChangi launched in 2020.

Taking the product seriously, but not itself

There is something so interesting about taking a very novel idea very seriously.

When Hart approached Griffin's, they apparently assumed that a comedian launching potato chips would want to make ridiculous flavours. Beer-flavoured chips, perhaps. Something weird enough to generate a few headlines.

Hart wasn't interested.

He wanted to make the most popular flavours in the category. BBQ, Salt & Vinegar, Sour Cream & Onion. The stuff people actually buy.

Instead, he concentrated the absurdity into the branding.

And there's something quite brilliant about that distinction.

SnackaChangi isn't trying to reinvent potato chips. It isn't introducing some revolutionary ingredient, manufacturing process or health benefit. It's taking a fundamentally familiar product and making the experience of buying it far more entertaining.

But crucially, the product delivers.

They're thick, crunchy, heavily seasoned chips that stand up against the category's best. Because while the ridiculous packaging might convince someone to pick up a bag once, it isn't going to make them come back if the chips are shit.

In the word’s of Ogilvy: “Great marketing only makes a bad product fail faster.” And despite personally thinking these chips taste awesome, it seems like the market agrees with me.

There's a serious business behind the nonsense

The commercial success is surprisingly impressive.

According to launch agency Work Communications, SnackaChangi captured 7.2% of New Zealand's premium chip market, making it Griffin's most successful chip launch at the time.

The brand has since expanded well beyond its original potato chip range, introducing giant cashews in 2024 and three new corn chip flavours in September 2026.

It's also growing its presence in Australia, where its website now lists hundreds of independent grocery and specialty retail stockists.

But perhaps the most interesting part is the business model.

Hart hasn't attempted to build a food manufacturing empire from scratch. Instead, he partnered with established manufacturers who understand product development, production, logistics and retail distribution.

He brings the creative direction, storytelling and brand personality. They bring the infrastructure to make it a commercially viable FMCG business.

In a recent podcast, Hart even revealed that he'd traded away his ownership in Wakachangi beer to gain control of SnackaChangi.

Clearly, he sees something bigger in the snacks.

Being ridiculous is a serious marketing strategy

The packaging itself is a masterclass in distinctive brand assets.

Inspired by vintage adventure novels, every packet features another outlandish episode involving Great Uncle Kenny. The colours are loud, the illustrations are elaborate and the copy is genuinely funny.

It's a recognisable brand world, not just a funny logo.

And the same thinking extends into their marketing.

In 2025, SnackaChangi launched a campaign promising to personally deliver one potato chip to every New Zealander.

All 5.5 million of them.

They produced individual chip packets, tracked deliveries on digital billboards and sent Hart around the country attempting the impossible task.

After delivering approximately 50 chips, he gave up and offered the remaining $16,342.30 sampling budget to the public to help finish the job.

Naturally, the entire thing became a social media spectacle.

It's ridiculous, but it's also a surprisingly sophisticated piece of marketing. Product sampling turned into entertainment, public participation and earned media.

The joke wasn't getting in the way of the commercial objective. It was the mechanism for achieving it.

The joke's on everyone else

There's a broader lesson here for FMCG brands.

So much of the category is obsessed with finding new ways to communicate fundamentally similar propositions. Better ingredients. Superior quality. Authentic heritage. Premium this, innovative that.

And while there's nothing inherently wrong with any of those approaches, they often produce brands that look, sound and behave remarkably alike.

SnackaChangi has chosen a different path.

It treats entertainment as a core part of the product experience, rather than something the marketing department adds afterwards.

But it's equally serious about the fundamentals that keep an FMCG business alive: making a great product, getting it onto shelves and giving people a reason to buy it again.

That's what I find most compelling about this brand.

Plenty of companies can come up with a funny campaign. Very few have the conviction to build an entire brand around being ridiculous, and the discipline to make that ridiculousness commercially sustainable.

Some brands might be born with virality in their blood. But it takes a damn good business to keep it pumping.