From mountain climbers paralyzed by hunger to a jewel-encrusted ice cream chain at the NFL Draft, Mars is asking a lot of one peanut butter bar.
Snickers is running two simultaneous marketing pushes around its peanut butter products — one built on a longstanding creative platform about hunger-induced bad decisions, the other timed to the NFL Draft and anchored by a college football star expected to go in the first round.
The first, a campaign called “Stuck,” extends the brand’s existing creative territory around hunger as the source of human irrationality. In the lead spot, a rock climber in distress spends his crisis composing the perfect text message for help, until his companion hands him a Snickers and delivers the line: “You’re indecisive when you’re hungry.” Separate spots use self-aware humor to poke fun at the campaign’s own voice-overs. The ads are running across television and social platforms, including YouTube, Meta, Snapchat and TikTok.
Mars says the campaign is designed to highlight the textural qualities of the peanut butter variant — citing survey data from ingredient company Puratos indicating that 71% of consumers globally identify texture as a meaningful part of their eating experience.
“With ‘Stuck,’ we’re adding a new, hilarious chapter by exploring the world of hunger-fuelled indecisiveness,” said Ashley Gill, vice president of brands and content at Mars Snacking. “It’s a creative platform that allows us to playfully show how the satisfying, creamy and crunchy texture of Snickers Peanut Butter is the perfect solution to that all-too-familiar feeling of being caught in between.”
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The second activation centers on the brand’s ice cream line and former Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate, who is widely projected to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, which begins April 23. Through a dedicated microsite, Snickers is distributing limited-edition ice cream bars with packaging bearing the word “Chill” — a message aimed at fans and commentators caught up in the speculation-heavy draft season. Tate will also wear a custom jewel-encrusted Snickers Ice Cream Chill Chain at the draft event, which fans can enter a sweepstakes to win.
“The passion surrounding the NFL Draft is what makes it so exciting, but the non-stop speculation can turn up the heat quickly,” said Chanel Gant, marketing director at Mars Ice Cream. “We wanted to give fans a fun and delicious way to chill the hot takes.”