With more than 20 cans of Pringles on display, this year’s Super Bowl ad from the Kellogg-owned brand answers an age-old question: how many different ways are there to mix and match Pringles?
The 30-second ad from Grey focuses on Pringles’ stackability, with one of the men in the commercial stacking cheddar, jalapeño and sour cream and onion chips to create “the spicy nacho stack.” The other man, amazed, wonders aloud how many possible combinations exist, to which their smart speaker replies: 318,000.
However, the Alexa-like device quickly changes the subject from fun facts to an existential monologue about how it will never know the joy of mixing Pringles. “I have no hands to stack with; no mouth to taste with; no soul to feel with,” it says, before the confused men cut it off with an order to play “Funky Town” by Lipps Inc.
The snack brand teased the spot with three short videos released the month before Super Bowl LIII. It also partnered with food delivery service Fooji to give fans free chips in Boston and Los Angeles the Thursday and Friday before the game.
“Sad Device” follows the same basic formula as “Wow,” Pringles’ ad from 2018. That commercial, also made with Grey, starred Bill Hader and saw men on a film set combine BBQ, pizza and jalapeño flavored Pringles to make “the spicy barbecue pizza stack.”
BRAND: Pringles
YEAR: 2019
AGENCY: Grey Global Group
SUPER BOWL: LIII
QUARTER AIRED: Q2