• by Sarah Mahoney , Yesterday

Football and food have always gone together, but as tailgating trends escalate, CPG brands have to fight harder to get attention. Both Hellmann’s, Unilever’s mayonnaise heavyweight, and Pepsi are breaking new spots linked directly to game day.

Hellmann’s new campaign, “Call for Hellmann’s,” aims to give familiar food decisions the full football treatment.

“It’s hard to stand out,” says Brent Lukowski, Unilever’s senior marketing director for condiments in the U.S. “Football is probably one of the most cluttered moments of the year.”

The genesis of the campaign is the language of football itself. “If you think of it, a quarterback’s play call is really just a recipe,” he tells Marketing Daily. “What better way to feature a Hellmann’s recipe than borrowing that language, showing up in a way that resonates with football fans?”

While this is the sixth consecutive year of Hellmann’s football activations,  condiment and flavor trends are a moving target, Lukowski says. One spot features a man squirting mayo on a burger, a conventional use. But “Chicky Tenders” shows the condiment off as a dip, with both Chipotle and Spicy varieties.

Mayonnaise is pretty much a staple, with Lukowski putting annual penetration at about 86%. “But eating habits are evolving, especially with Gen Z consumers. They may not be eating sandwiches and potato salad like their boomer parents.”

Dipping, he says, is a big deal and getting bigger, with growing interest in flavored varieties. That’s made social media more important. “Having influencers authentically share how they make their game-day dishes, and how Hellmann’s makes it better, is becoming an increasingly prominent part of our programming,” he says.

VML New York is the agency, and the ads are running on national TV, streaming and social, and will continue throughout the football season. 

While Hellmann’s is a national brand, the campaign pulls on plenty of regional levers through partnerships with retailers and individual teams, Lukowski says. More local deals include partners such as the Big Ten Conference, the University of Alabama and the University of Texas, as well as in the NFL, with teams such as the New York Giants, New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles.

Manny Mayo, a six-foot mascot the company introduced three years ago, is also part of the activations, arriving at games with the Hellmann’s food truck and serving sliders, trivia and giveaways.

Pepsi is also rolling out a new football-themed campaign, continuing to build on its “Tailgating Deserves Pepsi” platform. The ads star Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerome “The Bus” Bettis and NFL superstar Justin Jefferson.

The ads will run on NFL programming throughout the season, and the campaign also includes promotional offers, merchandise drops, and tailgating experiences.

Pepsi, which has been part of the NFL for 26 seasons, has partnerships with 15 teams, including one recently announced with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.