Paul Henry Shows He Who Snickers Last, Snickers Loudest

Paul Henry's sustained a successful media career with his acerbic wit and now his special blend of meanness will be utilised in a New Zealand media campaign for a chocolate brand.

Henry will front the new campaign for Snickers You're Not You When you're Hungry a global campaign which uses celebrities known for a particular hunger trait, as a metaphor.

The popular television star will portray the hunger state 'meanness' and joins an impressive list of international A-listers including; Betty White, Joe Pesci, Aretha Franklin, Liza Minnelli and Joan Collins who have featured in commercials in more than 56 markets.

Henry says he's thrilled to be involved in the campaign which celebrates what he believes is one of his most endearing traits.

"I am excited to be involved in something which essentially just allows me to be myself. I'm glad to be able to show that meanness can be fun and celebratory, and despite the old adage that it's difficult to do, meanness really does come easy.

"It has never bothered me that people think I'm mean, I've always been able to laugh at it. In many ways this campaign is a very good representation of how I see myself," says Henry.

"I think it's great to see a company recognising human characteristics and putting them under the spotlight for us to have a bit of fun with," he says.

The new TVC which launches on August 25th during ad breaks for the Bledisloe Cup is a piece of entertainment in itself says Henry.

"It's lovely to be involved in a bit of theatre where people aren't taking themselves too seriously. I have enjoyed featuring in a campaign that started starring Betty White. It's something of an honour."

Snickers marketing manager Andrea Aguilar says the campaign was developed behind the universal insight that hunger makes a person weak and behave differently ultimately affecting the people around us and the way we perform.

The campaign she says, adopts a typically light-hearted tone of voice to appeal to the core brand consumers and that Paul Henry was a natural choice to bring the campaign to life.

"What the commercial is trying to convey is that hunger can drastically change your personality. It's saying that when you're hungry you're not on your game and that Snickers is the bar of substance that sorts you out," says Aguilar.

Snickers is one of the world's biggest selling chocolate bars and one of the top selling bars in New Zealand.

The 2012 integrated global campaign will incorporate TV advertising, PR and digital activity.