7 Snack, Candy Brands to Be Featured in Super Bowl LIV Commercials
By Hannah Hammond on Jan. 29, 2020CHICAGO — At least seven snack and candy brands will be featured in Super Bowl LIV commercials Feb. 2.
And it’s no surprise, seeing as snack food sales jumped 10.3% to $404 million during Super Bowl week in 2019, according to SNAC International, an Arlington, Va.-based international trade association for the snack industry.
Here’s a look at which snack and candy brands will air commercials during the big game …
Pop-Tarts
Netflix’s “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness will star in The Kellogg Co.’s Super Bowl spot to promote its new snack, Pop-Tarts Pretzel. This is the first time the Battle Creek, Mich.-based company is advertising Pop-Tarts during the Super Bowl.
“So dry, so dull, so crusty. … Someone needs to fix this!” Van Ness says in a teaser for the ad as he digs through a bowl of pretzels on a snack table.
“We fixed it,” a message from Pop-Tarts reads.
Snickers
Snickers has teased its game day commercial with several videos of people digging at a construction site.
"We live in a world today that feels out of sorts, and we have a big idea to do something about it," said Josh Olken, Snickers brand director. "Will it work? Who knows! But I think fans will enjoy our approach to fix it all that will be revealed in the full Super Bowl LIV commercial."
A long-form version of the ad was released Jan. 29 on the brand’s YouTube page. The ad declares that “the world is out of sorts” and presents an absurdly satisfying solution to fix it, according to the company.
It has been 10 years since Snickers—a Mars-Wrigley, Hackettstown, N.J., brand—launched its award-winning “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry,” campaign for the candy bar.
Cheetos
Cheetos, a Frito-Lay brand, is making its first Super Bowl ad appearance in more than a decade to highlight Cheetos Popcorn.
The Plano, Texas-based company is introducing its newest marketing campaign, “It’s a Cheetos Thing,” with the 30-second spot featuring ’90s hip-hop star MC Hammer.
The teaser for the commercial explores the origins of Hammer’s hit “U Can’t Touch This,” which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Fans will travel back to the 1990s before MC Hammer debuted his hit song—which the commercial implies began with a bag of Cheetos.
Planters
After viewers saw Mr. Peanut die in a Nutmobile crash to save his friends, America will get to see his funeral during the Super Bowl.
Planters’ pregame advertisement featured Matt Walsh and Wesley Snipes. Mr. Peanut saved the two after the Nutmobile they were driving crashed, leaving them hanging on a breaking branch on the edge of a cliff. Mr. Peanut let go of the branch to save his friends, and now Planters is mourning his death.
“Mr. Peanut; Dead at 104,” its website reads. Planters is a brand of Chicago-based Kraft Heinz.
The official Super Bowl commercial will air in the third quarter of the game, according to the company.
Heinz
Heinz will bring four ads together in one for its Super Bowl commercial.
The company isn’t telling fans a lot about its spot—except that they should pay close attention and may need to hit rewind to pick up on everything in the 30-second ad.
“By telling four stories at once, this ad is unusual, and I'm eager for people to experience it communally with family and friends during the big game," said Roman Coppola, the director of the ad. "Then I hope that they will have fun rewatching to further discover the multiple stories."
Pringles
Another Kellogg brand, Pringles, will make its first animated debut during a Super Bowl commercial.
Rick, Morty and his sister Summer from Adult Swim’s cartoon “Rick and Morty” star in the dystopian Pringles spot, in which a Pringles robot—disguised as Morty—appears overly enthusiastic about the Spicy Barbecue Pizza stack, according to Pringles. The characters come to realize they’re trapped in a Pringles commercial.
Hershey
The first Super Bowl ad for The Hershey Co., Hershey, Pa., in more than a decade will highlight the Reese’s Take5 bar.
The candy bar—made with Reese’s peanut butter, chocolate, caramel, peanuts and pretzels—went through a rebranding in 2019 to include the “Reese’s” name on its packaging.
The commercial takes place in an office where a woman reacts to her co-workers not knowing what a Take5 bar is.
“Where have you been, under a rock?” she quips at her co-worker who says he’s never heard of the candy.
The commercial ends with the tagline, “The best bar you’ve never heard of.”