Ad Age expanded its “Creativity Top 5” series to include new roundups of our favorite special-interest campaigns and ideas from brands. This week, we look at some of the latest innovations in the food and beverage space. Visit our site each Thursday for a new list of niche campaigns from the past month. 

5. An Egg-cellent new spokesman

Wonderful Pistachios is relaunching its “Get Crackin’” campaign behind a fairy tale legend. In a new spot launched this month, Humpty Dumpty takes a tumble into a bowl of pistachios and comes away nearly intact, and as a satisfied snacker.

The spot, from Wonderful Agency, LA, is airing now and will continue to air across syndication, digital streaming platforms, cable outlets, and on social media throughout 2023.

4. Tire change

One of the venerable names of the craft beer movement has been retooled for a new generation. New Belgium Brewing has introduced a new formula for its iconic Fat Tire beer, along with a new label designed to attract new beer fans and allies in the company’s commitment to fight climate issues (Fat Tire calls itself America’s first carbon-neutral beer). Brewers describe Fat Tire’s new formulation as a crisper, brighter and easier-drinking version of the 32-year-old American amber ale it is succeeding.

“Fat Tire has spent three decades at the center of the craft beer movement. Now, it’s time to widen the circle and inspire the next generation, too,” New Belgium Brewing CEO Steve Fechheimer said in a statement.

A commercial describing the change imagines an inglorious end to the original Fat Tire while introducing the new look. The independent Minneapolis agency Solve handled the creative, and the buy includes connected TV, streaming platforms, linear TV in Colorado and out-of-home in key markets.

3. Powered by potatoes

Latino music star Anitta stars in a new Lay’s commercial powered by real potatoes. In a stunt ideated by Highdive, more than 6,000 spuds were fitted with electrodes to power the remix of Anitta’s song “Envolver,” used in the ad. The “Beat of Joy” spot “embodies the joy of the Latino community through the power of reggaetón, dance and voceteo, a Puerto Rican and Dominican phenomenon of modifying car sound systems to play music at elevated levels,” the Frito-Lay brand shared in a statement.

2. Roxie debuts

“In Roxie, Molson Coors has created a product which speaks to two of the fastest-growing segments in the drinks space: non-alcoholic and canned cocktails.” That’s according to Alice Waterman, managing director of BrandOpus US, which collaborated on the design of the new beverage. Molson Coors said the drink would begin as a direct-to-consumer play while it tests the thirst for non-alcoholic adult beverages and the ability for Roxie to scale.

“The belief driving the innovation was always that drinkers shouldn’t have to compromise on experience if they picked zero-proof,” Waterman added. “Roxie delivers on just that, with a brand that advocates for consumers to own their drinking experience, their way—with or without alcohol.”

1. Chex Mix-A-Lot

Snack brand Chex Mix dipped into 1990s nostalgia and switched out backsides for bagels in a glorious remix of Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back.” The stunt supported the return of bagel chips to the snack mix and came with rhymes delivered by Sir Mix-A-Lot himself, along with a video mimicking “Baby Got Back’s” iconic look.

The “Bagel is Back” campaign was developed and executed by Mindshare’s creative content unit, Content+, with support from Edelman and The Social Lights. The campaign runs across paid, earned and owned channels, including TV and social. Daps directed the video, which also features nostalgia enthusiast and influencer Chrissy Allen.