Pringles has found a way to enter the World Cup conversation without releasing yet another piece of sports merchandise. The brand has presented “The Night Kit”, a pajama designed for fans who follow games at night or in the early hours of the morning, especially when the matches are played in distant time zones.
The action, developed together with Innocean Berlin, is based on the fact that football consumption is no longer associated only with bars, squares or large public screens. Many fans watch the games from the living room, the sofa or even the bed. In that context, Pringles has focused on what is worn when the plan is to stay awake until the end of the meeting.
This is how “The Night Kit” was born, a hybrid garment that combines the recognizable silhouette of a football kit with the comfort of pajamas. The brand defines it as a “pyjersey”, a piece located between sportswear, sleepwear and streetwear culture. Its function is to accompany an increasingly domestic way of experiencing football, this year nocturnal and linked to home entertainment.
The launch responds to Pringles’ platform around the consumption of snacks during football, but does so from a lifestyle perspective.
The design has been developed together with the Berlin creative studio Sucuk und Bratwurst. The garment is unisex, it is designed to be comfortable in bed or at home and takes vintage football shirts as a starting point. It is made of a gold fabric inspired by Pringles’ visual palette and incorporates a print based on the shape of its potatoes. The result is an ambiguous piece: it’s not quite pajamas, it’s not quite a sports shirt, but it can function as both.
“We are seeing that the culture of fans is changing with this World Cup and with the late match times, moving more and more towards private spaces. That is exactly where we want to be relevant as a brand”said Julia Anderson, Market Activation Manager at Pringles.
“All brands are trying to be louder during the biggest month of football. We decided to go to bed”explained Juan Andres Kebork, Senior Copywriter at Innocean Berlin. “The project reflects the agency’s belief that brands generate greater cultural relevance when they resolve real tensions rather than following category conventions. A challenger mentality can transform a practical consumer reality into a cultural conversation.”
From Sucuk und Bratwurst they explain that the starting point was vintage football shirts, but with the intention of designing pajamas that could also be worn outside the home. “We wanted to create something where you could get out of bed and quickly go down to the Späti for a can of Pringles, because that walk deserves a look. It’s not quite pajamas, it’s not quite a t-shirt. The Pyjersey lives right in that sweet spot between cool and comfortable”they have pointed out from the study.
The official presentation of “The Night Kit” will take place this June 18 at a night party in an apartment in Berlin, in collaboration with Highsnobiety, the global fashion and lifestyle brand based in the city. The event will combine a watch party football with a fashion action, reinforcing precisely that mix between match, home, street culture and nightlife that defines the concept of the garment.
