AI assistants often give weird answers, but one popular chocolate brand has found a clever way to fight back.
In a new campaign launched on 31 August, Snickers introduced a tool that lets people hand over a virtual treat whenever chatbots go off track. Curious users in the US can now test the feature online to see how artificial intelligence handles a sudden snack break.
By launching a digital candy bar designed for AI, Snickers is pushing its famous 'You're Not You When You're Hungry' slogan straight into the age of artificial intelligence.
A Digital Snack for Bad AI Answers
Available since 31 August, the new Hungr.AI tool gives people a virtual snack to hand over to an AI assistant whenever it starts acting too agreeable, gives poor replies or behaves in strange ways.
Treating AI hallucinations, which happen when LLMs generate false details, like a chatbot feeling hungry forms the core joke of this clever marketing push. By visiting the Snickers Hungr.AI website, people can get a virtual snack to hand over to their AI assistant whenever a reply falls short of expectations.
The Digital Snickers Tells AI to Try Again
Rather than simply showing a picture of a chocolate bar, the Digital SNICKERS contains a set of instructions for the AI assistant, which tell the bot to review its past reply and answer the question again after taking a metaphorical 'byte' of the bar once it gets those instructions.
The guidelines also set rules for how the bot should behave throughout the process, covering details about its tone, jokes, prohibited topics, and ways to converse with the person using it.
'Snickers has long been the remedy for out-of-character moments,' said Ashley Gill, Brand & Content Vice President, Mars Snacking.
'As generative AI becomes part of everyday life, we're playfully reinventing the way Snickers connects with our fans in today's culture. Whether it's a person losing their cool or an AI chatbot consistently agreeing with you, the truth hasn't changed: when you're not acting like yourself, we believe you maybe just need a Snickers,' the top executive added.
How to Feed Your AI a Virtual Snickers
Whenever your chatbot starts acting strangely, fans can follow a few simple steps:
Spot the hungry moment: If your AI appears overly agreeable or out of sorts, it might just need a snack.
Feed the AI: Head over to snickers.com/hungr-ai to grab a virtual SNICKERS Hungr.AI bar and hand your assistant a byte when its replies go off track.
Claim a free SNICKERS bar: Interacting with SNICKERS Hungr.AI via Reddit or Snapchat lets eligible US participants claim a free, real SNICKERS bar, featuring milk chocolate, nougat, caramel, and peanuts delivered to your door via DoorDash while supplies last.
Snickers Joins Brands Making Fun of AI
Food and drink brands are finding quirky ways to jump on the AI bandwagon, and Snickers is no exception.
Take Liquid Death, for instance: they recently partnered with Garage Beer and former NFL star Jason Kelce to urge people to mail their urine to AI data centres, playfully mocking the large amounts of water used to cool data centres.
