Leo New York Evolves Quest’s “It’s Basically Cheating” Campaign with Psychology-Driven “Succumb” Creative

The work launched this week (Sept 2), across TV/streaming, digital, social posts, influencer social content and out-of-home, with additional extensions into audio and commerce spaces.

The campaign achieved some of the highest testing scores the research company has seen and notably doesn’t rely on celebrity talent – instead letting the creative idea stand on its own merit. Leo New York employed an innovative production approach, using off-camera improv actors to generate authentic reactions from on-screen talent, and created enough modular content from a single shoot to fuel plenty of new content across multiple formats including 30-second, 15-second, and 6-second social spots in the future.

Stuart Heflin, General Manager at Quest, says: “This campaign captures something really authentic about how we make food decisions. Leo New York understood that we didn’t need to apologize for people’s cravings – we could celebrate them while showing how Quest lets you have both indulgence and best-in-class macros.”

Joe Mongognia, Chief Creative Officer at Leo New York, explains: “We all have that inner struggle with food choices. This campaign captures those struggles and confusion in a captivating way, while showing how Quest lets you satisfy both sides of that internal debate. The goal was to create work that was both cinematic and deeply relatable.”

CREDITS:

Quest Nutrition — ‘It’s Basically Cheating’ 2.0 ‘SUCCUMB’ Campaign Credits | September 2025

The Simply Good Foods Company, Quest Nutrition – Client
President and Chief Executive Officer: Geoff Tanner
SVP, General Manager Quest Brand Marketing: Stuart Heflin
VP, Quest Brand Marketing: Emily Johnston
Director, Creative Services: Nina Carbajal

SG1 – Agency SG1, a bespoke unit within Publicis Groupe, creatively led by Leo New York President: Nikki Maizel; Chief Creative Officer: Joe Mongognia; Group Creative Director: Ray Ali; Creative Director: Chams Abdelhafidh; Creative Director: Benson Ngo; VP, Associate Creative Director: Phillip Arias; Associate Creative Director: Ivy Phan; Associate Creative Director: Julian Castillo; SVP, Group Account Director: Jizelle Andrews; Account Director: George Khandji; Account Executive: Samuel Merritt; Account Executive: Olivia Sun; SVP, Strategy Director: Melissa Panasci; Senior Strategist: Darian Smith; Head of Production: Deb Archambault; Executive Producer: Rob Lee; Associate Producer: Monique Harbaugh Mazier; Senior Program Manager: Fida Sleiman; Associate Director, Business Affairs: Jonathan Toto

Production Company: Biscuit Director: Damien Shatford; Executive Producer: Andrew Travelstead; Founding Partner: Shawn Lacy; Head of Production: Sean Moody; Line Producer: Brendan Garrett; Director of Photography: Lol Crowley; Production Designer: Pablo Tregebov – Poza

Editorial: The Den Editor: Leo King; Co-Editor: Jess Mutascio; Assistant Editor: Evan Carp; Executive Producer: LauRenn Reed; Producer: Sari Resnick

Visual Effects, Color, Conform: Harbor Designer/Associate Creative Director: Bri O’Donnell; VFX Supervisor: Adrian Hurley; Lead Flame Artist/Creative Director: Alex Candlish; Compositor: Andrew Emmerson; Senior VFX Producer: Lauren Gray; Colorist: Karim El Katari; Senior Color Assists: Scarlett Tierny, Joni Brandenburg, Andrei Klein Color; Assist: Elizabeth Hickey; Color Producer: Jake Grom; Executive Producer, color: Nadia Dabibi

Audio: Barking Owl Sound Designer & Mixer: Stuart St. Vincent Welch; Mix Assistant: Henry Gilchrist; Executive Producer: Ashley Benton; Producer: Jenna Pangilinan; Managing Director: Carol Dunn

Casting Casting/Casting Director: Matthew Messinger

Source: Leo New York

  Advertising, Campaign, Leo Burnett, Leo New York, Marketing, Quest, Quest Nutrition