• by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer @mahoney_sarah, February 5, 2025

Super Bowl Sunday may be a party day for millions, but the Big Game hurts for many fans, still heartbroken after a disappointing season. Convenience store giant 7-Eleven is responding with the delivery of “emotional support pizzas,” introduced with ads that painfully illustrate the dashed hopes and shattered dreams of fans whose teams lost along the way.

The campaign came to life during the playoffs, using out-of-home and social media. The buy-one-get-one-free offer, which extends to any pizza ordered through the 7NOW delivery app, runs through Super Bowl Sunday, hoping to soothe wounded souls before they turn the page on football for the season.

The company wanted to elevate a standard scheduled promotion into something with a little more impact. “Sports has always been a huge fandom for the 7-Eleven brand, and we know our customers care about sports,” Marissa Eddings, senior director of brand, advertising, media, and in-store marketing, tells Retail Insider via email. “And there are far more losers than winners.”

The campaign, created in partnership with Dentsu Creative and dentsu X, launched with a 60-second video, which opens with a blunt assessment of reality: “Hey, Loser.”

An “emotional support pizza” feels more significant than a standard coupon.

Eddings says the effort grew from the insight that most people watching the game “have already had a ‘bad’ season. They can use a little pick-me-up while they watch other 'more winning’ teams play.”

And while Super Bowl Sunday is a massive day for all food delivery, 7-Eleven’s challenge was building attention and awareness for the app well in advance.

“That required our teams to think and act more subversively, which made a fun creative challenge for our agency. Our pizza couldn’t just show up as another pizza,” she says. “It had to play more of a role in fans’ lives and their feeds.”

And yes, she concedes that buying a 30-second Super Bowl spot can be a game-changing tool for reach and awareness -- but “our more tactical approach allowed us to customize messages by market and be timely to football news and conversation.”

Eddings says that while it is too soon to declare a pizza victory, early indications show an increase in consideration and purchase intent.