Panda Express and The Many serve up layers of joy in new Sizzling Shrimp Campaign

To launch the newest dish at Panda, The Many created an eye-catching new spot that ventures outside the kitchen and into a world of fantastical flavor.

There’s a new dish hot off the wok at Panda Express, and The Many is betting on it blowing some minds. In the agency’s second collaboration with UK director Tom Wilson of Feel Films and VFX post-production house UPP, The Many’s new film introduces Sizzling Shrimp to the world with a series of immersive, mouthwatering moments that allow viewers to savor every juicy detail.

The spot marks a subtle but important shift for the iconic American-Chinese restaurant, notes Senior Art Director Michelle John. “The food is still absolutely the hero, but as we created these visually arresting worlds, we were really focusing more on the joyful guest experience and how it’s unlocked by that first sensory encounter you have with the dish.”

But while the partnership’s creative output continues to evolve, there are some red threads from past campaigns that both agency and brand were more than happy to keep weaving into the latest work. For one, this spot once again features an iconic western song with a uniquely eastern twist. The film uses an English-Mandarin rendition of glam rock gem “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” by The Darkness as a rollicking sonic counterpart to the joyful visuals of floating juicy shrimp and splashes of tangy sauce.

“Everyone was obsessed with this song in 2003… and we felt like we hadn’t heard it since,” said Senior Copywriter Jameson Miller. “Part of our pitch to Panda—aside from the fact that the song is a total earworm and great fit with the mood of the spot—was, ‘how cool would it be if we get to be the brand that brings it back?’”

The spot—now live on both linear and non-linear TV—represents an opening salvo in a broader integrated campaign that includes new eye-catching in-store point of purchase displays, thumb-stopping content across every social channel, and a host of influencer partnerships that will continue to pulse out all spring long.