Mars has a new pitch for those with a sweet tooth: M&M’s Pretzel Chocolate Candies. An ad campaign for the confection launches this week, and includes a tie-in with American Idol.
Kicking off the effort for M&M’s Pretzel Chocolate Candies is a performance by the American Idol finalists in New York City on Wednesday. Consumers can visit the M&M's Facebook page, facebook.com/mms, to learn more about the product and watch the concert live. Mars is also American Idol’s official sponsor during its 49-city tour, which begins July 1. M&M’s will have signage and presence at all of the stops.
Wednesday’s performance marks the launch of the larger ad campaign, which includes print, TV and digital. Ads debut June 14 and star the Orange M&M "spokescandy." The creative, as well as the packaging, show the Orange M&M freaking out upon discovering he has a pretzel inside of him. The discovery “makes him extremely anxious and neurotic,” said Mars rep Ryan Bowling. “It’s really funny.”
Print ad buys include general interest and entertainment titles like People, Entertainment Weekly and Us Weekly. Mars will also run Hispanic versions of the spots. BBDO, New York, handled the creative. (Last year, the candy maker decreased ad spending on M&M's by 11.8 percent to $45 million, excluding online, per the Nielsen Co.)
M&M’s Pretzel Chocolate Candies is part of a new lineup of "sweet and savory" products announced by Mars. The other additions, rolling out over the course of the year, are Snickers Xtreme Bar and Dove Sugar Free Chocolates with Peanut Butter Crème, among others. Bowling said the idea of putting a pretzel inside the candy stemmed from “years of consumer focus groups” and the observation that “sweet and salty is very popular among fans of Mars’ products.”
Mars calls it one of the biggest product launches for M&M's in a decade, and it comes as sales of mass market, affordable sweets have benefited from consumers making small splurges in a downturn. (Sales of premium confections, however, have dropped, per a Mintel report.)
In addition to the American Idol tie-in, M&M’s Pretzel Chocolate Candies will be featured on Nascar driver Kyle Busch’s car, No. 18, during his next two competitions in the Sprint Cup Series.
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