It's been 12 years since Betty White starred in that unforgettable Snickers Super Bowl spot, yet the commercial feels just as fresh as when it premiered in 2010, thanks to the performance of White, who died Dec. 31 at age 99.

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In the commercial, America's sweetheart plays rough-and-tumble football with a bunch of men and is pummeled to the ground to illustrate the brand's "You're not you when you're hungry" theme. It has since become a classic seen in 80 countries. 

The White spot inaugurated a campaign that turned Snickers into the No. 1 candy bar, vaulting it from seventh place, according to the BBDO New York, the agency for the Mars Wrigley brand. And in 2020, the commercial topped USA Today’s Ad Meter as the best Super Bowl campaign of the last 25 years.

BBDO isn’t doing a Snickers Super Bowl commercial this year, David Lubars, chief creative officer at BBDO, said in an interview. But Lubars says there is plenty to look forward to in the next year, noting that the campaign is "stretchy and bendy enough to go where the world needs it to go.”

The agency had planned to pay tribute to White for her 100th birthday on Jan. 17 much like the rest of the world, but since her death last week it has had to change its plans. The Omnicom Group shop is set to celebrate her "in a new way" but declined to discuss details.

The campaign's kickoff

It all started when Lubars teamed up with creatives Peter Kain, Gianfranco Arena and producer Amy Wertheimer with the goal of making Snickers a classic American brand like baseball or Levi jeans. That’s when Kain and Arena came up with the “You’re not you when you’re hungry” line.

“That just goes to the core of humanity,” Lubars said. “You act cranky—you’re a diva or whatever when you’re hungry.”

But the Betty White spot almost didn't make the Super Bowl. The agency initially filmed two different commercials: One featured White and the other, with a different execution, starred Aretha Franklin. Originally the agency planned to use the Franklin commercial during the Big Game but ultimately went with White because it featured football. 

White came out of retirement for the commercial and was 88 years old when she filmed the campaign. She hosted "Saturday Night Live" a few months later, which Lubars and others at BBDO got to attend.

“She was great; she was lovely, sweet and funny, really funny and there were a lot of funny things that happened on the set,” Lubars said, recalling the commercial shoot. 

One particular memory, he said, is of White laying in the mud. The agency used a stunt double for the part where she is knocked down, but afterward, the man laid down on top of her for the rest of the scene and Lubars remembers her saying, "This is awesome. I usually have to buy a guy drinks first.”

The "Golden Girls" star said hello to the entire agency team and it “became a day with Betty White," recalled Lubars, noting she was so psyched to have fans at the agency because they were all so young and “she just didn’t know that that existed.”

“Betty White was one of the most remarkable people Mars has had the pleasure of working with and we continue to celebrate her talent,” said Sarah Long, Mars Wrigley's chief marketing officer. “She was a person who truly embodied our Mars purpose and principles, delivering better moments and more smiles to the world.”

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