Never Say No To Panda



Never Say No To Panda is a 2010 TV advertising campaign featuring an anthropomorphic, sociopathic panda for Panda Cheese. Panda Cheese is a brand of cheese manufactured in Egypt by The Arab Dairy Products Company.

TV ads
In each advertisement, someone would turn down an offer of Panda Cheese. The panda then silently appears nearby. In the background plays the opening lines of the Buddy Holly & The Picks version of True Love Ways ("Just you know why....") whilst the panda stares without moving. After a few moments, the panda suddenly lashes out violently. For example:
 * An officeworker offers to make his colleague a cheese sandwich, but he is not hungry. The panda pushes the man's Macintosh SE to the floor and smashes the keyboard against his desk.
 * A nurse brings some Panda Cheese to a patient in a hospital ward, but he is not hungry. The panda casually tips the man's television set onto the floor, then pulls the IV line out of the man's drip bag.
 * A pizzeria worker delivers some Panda mozzarella to a colleague, but he doesn't need it because the order is for "without cheese". The panda empties a jar of pizza sauce over the workbench, then slams his paws down on a mound of flour, sending a white cloud billowing into the air.
 * A boy and his father are in a supermarket. The boy asks if they should get some Panda Cheese, but the father says they have enough things already. The panda tips the grocery cart over, kicks at the spilt groceries, then jumps on them.
 * A family birthday party is being held for a small girl. The mother asks the father if he got some Panda Cheese, but he says they already have plenty of food. As they finish singing Happy Birthday to You, the panda claps slowly, then hurls the birthday cake against the wall.
 * A family is having a picnic in a park. The wife asks her husband, who is tossing a soccer ball to his son, if he would like a cheese sandwich. He declines. The panda appears, catches the ball, and punctures it with one claw. He then proceeds to use a spanner to smash in the window of the family's car.

There is also a variation on the advertisement in the supermarket; the boy asks if they should get some Panda Cheese and he and his father suddenly find the panda standing in front of their grocery cart The father has the boy get a package of cheese, but the panda continues to stare menacingly so he gets a second one as well. The panda then lets them peacefully go about their business.

Behind the scenes
The "Don't Say No To Panda" campaign was created by Advantage Marketing and Advertising.

At the 2011 Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity, the commercials won two gold and two bronze awards in the Film category, and a gold in the Promo & Activation category.