Sabrina Carpenter’s latest courtship lasted several weeks, but her fans only get to see 30 seconds of it.
To have the feisty pop star appear in its latest Super Bowl commercial, Pringles on Mars approached Carpenter with a director who had previously worked with her on a music video, giving her the opportunity to choose from a selection of creative “teaser” concepts to anchor the entire ad.
Pringles is a little more crunchy than other Super Bowl sponsors. The show joins the Big Game’s advertising roster for the eighth year in a row and the ninth time it will appear on the Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots NFL spectacle that will air on NBC on February 8th. That’s why executives at Pringles, which acquired Kellogg Co. spinoff KeraNova Inc. in December and became part of consumer products giant Mars Inc., are benefiting from their hard-won knowledge of the Super Bowl advertising game.
“One of the things we always want to do with our talent is make sure they really love what they’re doing,” Diane Saylor, Mars Snacking’s senior director who oversees marketing for the company’s salty snacks, said in a recent interview. “The important thing about working with talent is making sure they like the songs you write,” and allowing the celeb to “make it their own and express it in their own voice.”
The result is a humorous account of Carpenter’s whirlwind romance with her Pringles boyfriend. Carpenter complains to her friends that she is tired of dating boys and wants someone more mature. She draws inspiration from Mr. P, the iconic Pringles character, and creates new friends by stacking the famous potato chips. Hilarity and love ensues until her new beau is crushed by a Carpenters fan. In a biting commentary on the dangers of fame, Carpenter and a fan are seen eating the remains of a potato chip lover in the final seconds of the ad.
Thaler said the concept was based on a magazine article executives saw about Gen Z dating. “The headline was ‘I’m embarrassed to have a boyfriend,'” she recalls. “The whole idea behind it is that for Gen Z, dating and relationships and being online is something they’re born with, and it’s completely different than every generation before them.”And when Pringles last year brought back its classic slogan, “Once you pop, it never stops popping,” executives felt pop star Carpenter could help drive home that concept to consumers.
Of course, the company first needed to see if Carpenter was interested in the job. “We started talking about this concept for Sabrina from day one,” Saylor says. Over the summer, her team “worked hard on our creative process and decided which idea would take the lead. Conversations with her team started at the same time. I don’t want to go too far into things that aren’t interesting to the talent.”
Working with a romantic partner made of snack foods can be challenging. The “kiss cam” scene between Carpenter and Pringles’ friends was easily completed in two takes, Saylor says. While the scene may be reminiscent of the viral incident in July in which a woman and her boss were shown on a big screen during a Coldplay concert in Boston, it was not a deliberate attempt to reference that episode. Another act by Carpenter and company at a romantic restaurant known as “Pringle Leo” took even longer. “He feeds her tiramisu. Sabrina ate a lot of tiramisu in a day,” Saylor confessed. “She was very patient and let Pringle Leo hold the spoon as we captured exactly that moment. It was a moment where in my mind I was like, oh, just put the spoon in his hand and it’s going to work. And on set, working with Pringle Leo’s team, certain tasks took time, but she was amazing. She was the most supportive partner. She’s a true professional.”
The commercial has been meticulously crafted to remind not only Carpenter but everyone who sees it about the product, executives said. “In my opinion, one of the worst things that can happen to a Super Bowl marketer is that viewers remember your celebrity, song, or ad concept, but not your brand,” she says. That could be a “huge risk” as NBC is seeking $7 million to more than $10 million for 30 seconds of ad time. Pringles’ Super Bowl ads all feature the product in interesting ways designed to create memories, like sticking your hand into a Pringles can or stacking potato chips to create interesting flavors. Creating links between advertising and products has been “a strategy for us” for many years.
The company will have to wait until Sunday to see if viewers believe in Pringles and Carpenter’s new relationship.
