Little Caesars CMO on its Super Bowl return

Little Caesars is returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2020 to bring more awareness to the chain’s Crazy Puffs. A 30-second ad from McKinney will run in the third quarter of the Feb. 9 game on Fox. Little Caesars hinted that the spot will focus on Crazy Puffs, its pizza dough cups filled with sauce and cheese or pepperoni and topped with garlic butter. Little Caesars is already the official pizza sponsor for the NFL—it replaced Pizza Hut in 2022—and hopes the reach of the Super Bowl will bring in more customers. “We see the Super Bowl as distinct and different from our sponsorship,” said Greg Hamilton, Little Caesars’ chief marketing officer. “It’s such a massive and engaged audience. This year, Crazy Puffs will be the feature and we’ll have a bit of news on that product line.” Hamilton confirmed there will be celebrities in the spot, but did not share who. The ad will feature “eyebrow-raising talent that transcends sports,” the brand shared in a press release. Recent Little Caesars ads have included San Francisco 49er George Kittle, Minnesota Viking Justin Jefferson and Detroit Lion Amon-Ra St. Brown. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Little Caesars (@littlecaesars) Hamilton said the campaign will include teasers and leverage influencers and athletes. The director is Frank Todaro, who also directed privately-held Little Caesars’ first Super Bowl commercial five years ago. The Big Game ad buy comes as the brand looks to build on the viral success of Crazy Puffs, which launched last March and sell for $3.99 for a four-pack. The brand has promoted the product on social media by hosting “P.U.F.F.Y. Fest” (“People United for Foodreviews Yeah!”)—bringing in food influencers including Alexis Frost (who was also part of the push for getting the fajita quesadilla served at Chipotle) to make content around the portable pizza bites. @littlecaesarspizza The Little Caesars trinity: Crazy Puffs™️, Portable Crazy Puffs™️ Tables and @lukefoods ♬ original sound - Little Caesars @littlecaesarspizza Crazy Puffs™️ be bringing people together @Alexis Frost @Mr.ChimeTime ♬ original sound - Little Caesars The brand got another bump when creator Jordan Howlett organically posted about how good the Crazy Puffs were. His video got 9 million views. @jordan_the_stallion8 #fypシ ♬ original sound - Jordan_The_Stallion8 “What we found for Crazy Puffs is that it fulfills a certain need that we did not anticipate,” Hamilton said. “They can be a snack, a meal for yourself, a side to a pizza. There is a wide net for usage occasions where our product can help.” Little Caesars’ 2020 Super Bowl ad debut played on the idea that getting pizza delivered was the best thing since sliced bread. It featured Rainn Wilson as an executive at Sliced Bread Inc., whose company and career end after Little Caesars begins offering delivery of online orders. Little Caesars ranked 21st in Nation’s Restaurant News’ top 500 brands for 2024, with $4.5 billion in 2023 sales. By comparison, Domino’s was 10th with $9 billion in sales, Pizza Hut was 13th with $5.6 billion in sales and Papa Johns ranked 26th with $3.8 billion in sales. Little Caesars is the 11th food brand to confirm a Super Bowl ad buy. To keep track of all the advertisers running national spots in the game, bookmark Ad Age’s regularly updated Super Bowl ad chart.

Little Caesars CMO on its Super Bowl return

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