Dive Brief: 

• Frito-Lay unveiled this year’s iteration of its “Share More Joy” holiday campaign that for the first time sees a collaboration between itself and the PepsiCo Beverages division for a national holiday commercial, according to a press release. 
• The 60-second spot “Melt” highlights Frito-Lay and PepsiCo Beverages products. The effort includes a digital Holiday Village with interactive destinations where users can shop, use a Snapchat augmented reality filter, find recipes and donate to Toys for Tots.
• Visitors to a PepsiCo Beverages landing page can apply for the chance to receive up to $500 in Visa gift cards through Dec. 26. The holiday push sees an emphasis on shared experiences, a popular theme this season following several years of pandemic restrictions. 

Dive Insight: 

Frito-Lay’s “Share More Joy” holiday campaign this year sees the snacks marketer leaning into themes of togetherness and comes as many shoppers are looking for fun experiences over gifts in a behavior described by some as a season of “revenge living.” The campaign follows a recent PepsiCo earnings reports indicating that Frito-Lay sales volume is down while revenue is up due to higher prices. PepsiCo beverages saw increases in both revenue and volume during the same period. 

Key to the campaign is a minute-long spot, “Melt,” that features a mix of animation and real-life footage. In the spot, a group of snowpeople plan a strategy to sneak inside a house in pursuit of Frito-Lay and PepsiCo Beverages products, like Lay’s Classic, Doritos, Pepsi Zero Sugar and Mtn Dew. One snowman cuts it close, nearly clashing with a group of friends walking in the front door, but successfully escapes in time, only losing a nose, which is replaced with a single Doritos chip. The spot was created by PepsiCo’s in-house content studio.

Along with the spot is a virtual, Frito-Lay-themed Holiday Village that features four spots users can explore. At the Holiday Shop, users can shop a series of branded merchandise like a Doritos sled, a Cheetos body pillow or a Ruffles scarf. The Holiday Kitchen includes a handful of recipes that integrate Frito-Lay products, like a Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball and Rold Gold Mini Holiday Cheese Balls. A third virtual spot, the Portrait Studio, offers a QR code that users can scan on their phones to open Snapchat and use an AR try-on filter to virtually test out branded merchandise, an activation several brands have gone for in pursuit of experience-driven marketing.

The fourth spot, The Giving Tree, is located in the center of the Holiday Village and redirects users to a donation page to contribute to nonprofit Toys for Tots. Frito-Lay also committed to donating $500,000 to help support the effort. Timed to the holiday season, the brand also unveiled a slew of offerings, like Lay’s Sweet & Salty Dipped Clusters and Cheetos Snowflakes, which are available at retailers nationwide and on the Holiday Shop. 

Finally, an effort by PepsiCo Beverages that launched at the end of October will continue to run through the holidays, ending the day following Christmas and awarding 2,000 consumers who submit a code found on select PepsiCo products along with basic info like their email address with up to $500 in Visa gift cards. 

This year’s “Share More Joy” campaign follows a similar effort last year that featured The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, who sang a snack-themed version of “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” for a campaign spot. The brand last year also offered its Holiday Shop and pledged support for Toys for Tots.