The Sidemen tap ‘Madden’ streamer Sketch to star in ritzy ad for Best Cereal

U.K.-based creator supergroup the Sidemen are marketing their breakfast brand by partnering with fellow creators.

They’ve tagged YouTuber and Twitch streamer Sketch to star in a campaign for Best Cereal, the line that sold 100,000 boxes within two weeks of being debuted back in March. It’s part of the Sidemen’s Best Breakfasts line, which–in the group’s typical humor–tells consumers to “Start your day with the best–according to us anyway.” So far, they’ve got Choco Crunch and Caramel Gold cereals, and for the duration of this campaign, Sketch is the face of those crunchy morning bites.

Sketch, whose Madden NFL gameplay has brought him 5 million subscribers on YouTube and a million followers on Twitch, stars in a minute-long ad (produced by After Party Studios) that shows him checking in to a high-class hotel. When a bellhop asks Sketch to let him know if there’s anything the place can do to improve his stay, he gives the camera a slow turn and a sly, “Anything, brother?”

A flurry of preparation ends with Sketch at a flower-adorned table, being served Best Cereal. The ad’s crowning soundbite is Sketch shouting, “Best Cereal! Grab a box now!”

“We had such a short window with Sketch to do something with the Sidemen, and starring in Best Breakfasts’ new cereal ad felt the best way to have impact,” Sidemen manager Jordan Schwarzenberger told Marketing Beat. “Another genius idea from Ben aka Rvbberduck, and executed to perfection. Can’t wait to see the audience’s reaction.”

After Party Studios co-founder Ben Doyle added that the commercial came together with just four days between greenlight and filming.

“With such a prolific and dedicated following, it was really important for us to lean into everything that Sketch’s audience love about him to make sure we created something that is not only nuanced and authentic, but unexpected and entertaining,” Doyle said.

Sketch’s ad will appear across his social channels as well as the Sidemen’s, giving it a total reach of over 30 million followers.

The Sidemen are far from the first creators to get into food and bev, and they’re not the first to tap other creators to help market their products, but if they keep making commercials this slick, we could see them carve out a serious place in the cereal space.