Prigles will air a 30-second spot during the
third quarter of the Big Game, marking its ninth consecutive Super Bowl appearance and extending its newly revived creative platform, “Once You Pop, The Pop Don’t Stop.” The
campaign, developed with BBDO New York, leans into surreal, irreverent humor, a tone that has helped Pringles stay culturally relevant with younger snackers even as the broader category faces
pressure.
The Super Bowl return comes soon after Mars completed its long-awaited acquisition of Kellanova, a $36 billion deal first announced in August 2024. With the transaction now closed,
Pringles officially joins Mars’ expansive snacking portfolio, which includes brands such as Snickers, M&M’s, Twix and
Skittles.
Mars has framed the merger as a growth play designed to create a global snacking powerhouse with roughly $36 billion in annual revenue and nine billion-dollar brands. But the
integration is also triggering leadership changes across the newly combined organization.
advertisement
advertisement
Former Kellanova CEO Steve Cahillane is set to take on a new role as chief executive of Kraft Heinz,
while Kellanova chief growth officer Charisse Hughes will depart later this month following the close of the deal. Hughes, who joined the company when it was still Kellogg’s, played a central
role in modernizing its marketing and analytics capabilities during a period marked by inflation-driven price hikes and margin pressure.
In a LinkedIn post announcing her exit, Hughes wrote
that the work was a collective effort: “From strengthening our consumer insights and analytics engine to pushing creative boundaries for brands like Pringles and Pop-Tarts, our success has been
a true team effort. I’m proud of how we transformed data into action, elevated storytelling, and built a modern marketing model that delivers real impact.”
Against that backdrop of
executive churn, Pringles’ Super Bowl presence underscores its status as one of the most stable — and strategically valuable — brands in the combined portfolio.
In an
interview with CPG Insider earlier this year, Diane Sayler, senior director of full-funnel marketing for Kellanova’s salty brands, said Pringles’ momentum comes from its ability to
connect emotionally with Gen Z consumers through humor, collectibles and fast-moving cultural cues, even as consumers tighten their budgets.
“Despite macroeconomic factors or
personal choices, snacking still holds a place in consumers’ lives, especially for Gen Z,” Sayler said at the time. “We want to be a preferred brand for them… with an
emotional connection and a relevance that help us get into the cart.”
That strategy has paid off. Pringles has continued to gain share globally, even as some competitors lose volume to
private labels and better-for-you alternatives. Its most recent Super Bowl effort, called “The Call of the Mustaches,” ranked in
the top 1% of Big Game ads for effectiveness, according to Ipsos.
As Mars begins integrating Kellanova’s brands and leadership teams, Pringles’ return to the Super Bowl offers a
reminder of what the combined company is betting on: brands that can still get noticed in the challenging snack aisle.