• by Steve Ellwanger , November 21, 2019

Actress Anna Kendrick is center stage in Frito-Lay’s first-ever holiday campaign, a multi-brand effort titled “Favorite Things” that breaks today and combines digital advertising with spots on major televised events over the next six weeks.

By sharing the campaign spotlight, the company hopes that Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Tostitos and Smartfood can leverage each other’s brand equity to increase their own at a time when people are purchasing snacks in bulk for holiday recipes, parties and family gatherings.

According to Frito-Lay, there are an estimated 327 million family gatherings over the six-week holiday period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s — about four times as many “incremental snacking occasions” as Super Bowl Sunday.

Fresh off the debut of her Disney+ Christmas comedy film “Noelle,”  Kendrick performs a new take on the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein song “My Favorite Things” amid a house full of partiers. “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright yellow Lay’s bags and noses frostbitten,” she sings.

“From day one, we envisioned this song and spot with Anna Kendrick in the lead role,” Chris Bellinger, vice president of creative and digital at Frito-Lay North America, tells Marketing Daily. “She has the witty personality and creative mind that we knew could bring this idea to life in a fun way.”

In addition to promoted content on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, Frito-Lay is using audio ads on Spotify. An assortment of 15-, 30- and 90-second commercials will appear on national television during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thanksgiving Day NFL, the Rockefeller Center tree lighting ceremony and the NBA Christmas Special.

Other celebrities who appear in the “Favorite Things” spot include Teresa Dahlquist of the “Golden Sisters” reality doc and Matty Cardarople, whose  credits include Netflix's "Stranger Things."

The campaign was conceived and executed by Frito-Lay’s in-house creative team.

Separately, Frito-Lay parent PepsiCo today released creative on digital platforms featuring rapper and actress Cardi B as part of the “Gift It Forward With Pepsi” campaign that broke earlier this month. It’s titled “A Cardi Carol” and will include a 30-second commercial that debuts on national TV on Thanksgiving Day.