Creatine plus Electrolytes

When the New York-based creatine supplement brand Create (trycreate.co) developed its new Creatine + Electrolytes product, everyone agreed it was a breakthrough, but nobody could agree on what to call it besides, obviously, Creatine plus Electrolytes. So that became its name. And, for the independent creative agency SLAPS, the campaign.

'Creatine + Electrolytes. Hard to Name. Easy to Take' is a mockumentary-style campaign, shot deliberately like The Office meets Please Don't Destroy, that opens the doors of Create HQ mid-launch crisis. Scientists, interns, a strangely insightful pizza delivery guy, the real founders, and the brand's gummy mascot all descend on the boardroom, united in agreement that the new product is a breakthrough and completely unable to agree on anything else. By the end of 45 seconds, you've heard ‘Creatine plus Electrolytes’ enough times it's burned into your brain. The look was a deliberate act of restraint: no glossy production, no colour grading, no music cues, no special effects. Handheld, fast and slightly chaotic, the camera walks into rooms as if it had just arrived.

The teaser, which went live on the 23rd March, opens in spaghetti western mode: smash cuts between Dan, Sienna, a scientist, a nervous employee and the gummy mascot in an increasingly tense boardroom staredown, set to low drums and whistling tension, with no product in sight. The super reads: "The biggest launch in Create history is coming." The product reveal is saved for the hero film.

The campaign also spans three social shorts. In the first, the gummy mascot overhears that Creatine + Electrolytes might be bigger than gummies, slowly turns, enters the boardroom, shoves the entire product stack off the table, and storms out. Employees stare. Someone shouts after it. In the second, employees in the break room can only communicate in "Creatine and Electrolytes," with subtitles helpfully translating. In the third and final, launching today, the brand's scientist addresses a packed boardroom with a whiteboard equation reading 1+1=1, holds up two separate pouches labelled Creatine and Electrolytes, and then attempts a truly terrible sleight-of-hand move before revealing the actual product. The campaign runs primarily on Instagram and TikTok.

"We are a brand that is building in public. We share a lot of behind the scenes from our office, and the founders are really present voices for the brand. We loved this idea because it extends what’s true about us but does it in a more elevated and expert way, without losing the DIY feel of a brand that doesn’t take itself too seriously. SLAPS understood that vibe and how to announce this step for the business in a way that felt big and exciting but also grounded and unpretentious." said Beckley Mason, Head of Marketing, Create Wellness

“We knew from the brief that the name was the idea. Creatine and electrolytes work better together, that's the product's truth, and 'Creatine + Electrolytes' is the most honest thing you could possibly call it. So we leaned into the absurdity of that and made something people actually want to watch. From the start this was built as a social-first campaign. Every execution designed to stop the scroll, not just support the hero film." said Sebastien Vandecasteele, Founder, SLAPS

"We treated it like a truth, not a campaign. Honestly. Real settings. Real characters. The actual real founders. Shot in this deadpan, observational way that makes the obvious feel weirdly fresh again. The humour isn’t forced, it just sits there, because these two things so clearly belong together. Which is also where the name does all the work. It’s the problem and the punchline. And yes, we absolutely pushed to see how many times we could say Creatine + Electrolytes. Spoiler, it's a lot." added Dave Bonaparte, Creative Director, SLAPS

Within its first week since launch, the campaign drove significant early traction for the new product line. Create recorded over 5,000 new customers and sold 4,480 units, with strong early momentum on Amazon alongside positive reception from retailers and customers alike.