Mars Chocolate North America is going hard, not going home, during this year’s Super Bowl.
It’s typical for Mars to touch down in the world of commercials and they plan to continue the tradition this year as they finally give their beloved M&M’S character Yellow a moment in the spotlight Sunday night.
The 30-second commercial about M&M’S Peanut will air during the first half of the game. A sneak-peak trailer already is available to fans on the M&M’S Facebook page.
"It's about time we remind the world how irresistible M&M'S Peanut really is," says Seth Klugherz, senior director of M&M'S Chocolate Candies. "Each M&M'S Peanut is literally 1 in 100 — meaning we have to sort through 100 different peanuts, just to find one that's lucky enough to make its way into a bag of M&M'S Peanut."
Yellow, who usually plays a supporting role to his best friend Red, is widely considered “America’s Favorite Nut”. He made his debut along with M&M’s Peanut in 1954 and has been winning over the taste buds of chocolate-coated peanut lovers ever since.
M&M’sRed character has a few words for the brand’s decision to “bench” him during the big game. He shared his feelings in a humor-filled press release from M&M’s that shares a link to his resume.
“This week, M&M’S Brand made a monumental mistake: they passed over the reigning advertising MVP – moi – and instead chose my fellow spokescandy Yellow to star in the brand’s new Big Game commercial,” Red says. “I’m announcing my availability to star in any game day commercial that will have me. Not just because I want to, but because the people deserve it. I’m a chocolate candy-coated ad-making machine.”
And when the Super Bowl is over and the winners are chosen, Mars Chocolate won’t be “going home” — because they won’t need to.
The big game is slated to take place at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N. J. — the same state as the candy company’s in Hackettstown, N.J. — and Mars is planning to make good use of its home-field advantage.
M&M’S WorldTimes Square is poised to be the premier New York City shopping and sports destination during the week leading up to Super Bowl XLVIII.
"Hosting Super Bowl XLVIII in the New York and New Jersey region, right in our backyard, is an amazing opportunity and we're happy to help bring a pretty sweet experience to our fans," says Seth Klugherz, senior director ofM&M'S chocolate candies.
Home to M&M’S chocolate candies and branded merchandise, the store plans to open its doors to millions of shoppers as well as the 24-hour all-sports radio station WFAN, which will broadcast live for more than 12 hours each day, Monday, Jan.27 through Friday, Jan. 31.
Local fans and store visitors will be able to witness live broadcasts from Boomer & Carton, Benigno & Roberts,and Mike Francesa, complete with all of their big name athlete and celebrity guests when the store opens at 9 a.m. Boomer & Carton will begin their show at 6 a.m., capturing all the excitement as the city awakens each morning.
"We're excited for the opportunity to get up-close with our listeners and fans from around the world at M&M'S World during the most exciting week in all of sports," says Mark Chernoff, WFAN program director and v.p. of sports programming, CBS Radio.
Yellow's Super Bowl XLVIII ad is just the latest exciting activity in the M&M'S "Year of Peanut" campaign, a year-long effort to showcase the irresistibility of M&M'S Peanut.
The brand kicked off the year with a star-studded event on New Year's Eve in Atlanta — the unofficial peanut capital of the nation — and launched a humorous online video series called the "Search for the One," which starred actor and comedian David Koechner as an eccentric explorer searching for the "perfect peanut."
Following Super Bowl XLVIII, M&M'S plans to continue to roll-out the integrated marketing campaign focused on M&M'S Peanut, which includes multiple English and Spanish television, print and digital ads, in-store displays, consumer promotions, public relations and social media.
