As Jordan prepared for its first-ever FIFA World Cup appearance, mattress brand Sleepzone temporarily “recalled” its mattresses, pillows and duvets in a campaign that encouraged fans to stay awake for the country’s historic matches.
Created by Adpro&, the campaign played on Sleepzone’s positioning around better sleep by suggesting its products were too effective, risking customers sleeping through Jordan’s biggest sporting moment.
The executions mimicked the format of official product recall notices, announcing that Sleepzone products had been temporarily withdrawn after being found to cause customers to “sleep through history in the making”. Consumers were humorously advised to stop using the products until the tournament ended or return them if they lacked the self-control to stay awake.
The campaign was timed around Jordan’s World Cup fixtures, which kicked off in the early hours of the morning. The national significance of the tournament also prompted the Jordanian government to delay official working hours to 10am on match days, allowing fans to watch the matches.
Instead of highlighting product benefits in the traditional way, the campaign reframed features such as pressure-relieving mattresses, ergonomic pillows and temperature-regulating duvets as the very reason customers risked missing the action.
“The best ideas come from tension,” said Rizek Jildeh, Group Head of Strategy at Adpro& Group. “Sleepzone’s entire purpose is helping people get a better night’s sleep, yet this was the one moment where the brand genuinely didn’t want anyone sleeping.”
Creative Director Hatem Soliman said the team deliberately designed the work to resemble a genuine recall notice.
“We wanted people to believe it for just a split second,” said Hatem Soliman, Creative Director at Adpro& Group. “The entire campaign relied on restraint. Our Art Director, Malek Smadi did a fantastic job resisting the temptation to over-design it. We treated every execution like a genuine product recall notice, borrowing the typography, layout and tone people instinctively trust. That simplicity is what made the idea land. The more official it looked, the funnier the realisation became.”
For Sleepzone, the campaign provided an opportunity to celebrate a national milestone while reinforcing the quality of its products.
“We’ve spent years helping Jordanians sleep better, but this was one occasion where we were happy to do the opposite,” said Ahmad Jarrar, General Manager of Sleepzone. “Our products are designed to deliver exceptional sleep, but no mattress should come between people and witnessing their country’s biggest sporting achievement. It was a fun and authentic way for us to join a conversation that united the entire nation.”
