Totino’s enters breakfast category with retro ads targeting Gen Z

Dive Brief:

General Mills brand Totino’s is targeting Gen Z with a new campaign, entitled “Start the Day the Totino’s Way,” that promotes Breakfast Snack Bites, its foray into the morning food category, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
Two new 15-second spots tap into nostalgia while positioning Breakfast Snack Bites as a convenient choice amid the morning shuffle. The ads include original jingles from agency Butter.
Set to run across online video, streaming TV, the brand’s social media channels and paid social placement, the effort was inspired by research indicating that 75% of teens skip breakfast.

Dive Insight:

Totino’s, a brand known for its Pizza Roll snacks, is pushing into the breakfast category with Gen Z in its sights. Its latest campaign is inspired by the majority of teens who skip breakfast, offering the marketer a key opportunity to promote its Breakfast Snack Bites as a convenient option. The campaign also taps into Gen Z’s appetite for nostalgia, a popular marketing tactic of late, with visuals and music meant to evoke commercials of the ‘80s and ‘90s.

At the center of the campaign are two spots depicting morning scenes around the breakfast table along with a bizarre tone, something Totino’s often infuses into its marketing. “WakeyWakey” shows a teen getting out of bed under the light of a creepy sun puppet and sitting down at the table to enjoy breakfast bites while catching the morning news. In “Momstache,” a teen fights with a frozen arm protruding from the freezer to get his hands on the snack bites before spotting his mom with a Totino’s mustache. The ads are soundtracked by retro jingles created by agency Butter.

“Start the Day the Totino’s Way” was developed with Dentsu Creative — which has had a hand in other unhinged marketing plays from Totino’s — along with Emma Debany of production company WW7. Debany collaborated on every element of the work, per release details, from casting to set design to shooting the creative on a Digital Bolex camera to offer a retro feel.

Totino’s latest effort could help build loyalty and attract consumers looking to knock the habit of choosing meal options like fast food. At the same time, QSRs like Wendy’s have also stepped up their marketing around breakfast. Prior to its latest move, Totino’s teamed with comedian Pete Davidson for a campaign promoting its Pizza Rolls snack that was timed to the Super Bowl.

Other breakfast marketers have unveiled their own creative efforts recently. In May, Thomas’ Breakfast, a maker of bagels and English muffins, unveiled its first brand character in its 144-year history as part of its “Huzzah! A Toast to Breakfast” campaign. The month prior, Quaker launched a “100 Reasons to Rise” photo series showcasing how mornings can unite people, building on the marketer’s first global brand platform to date.

Totino’s parent company General Mills recently reported quarterly net sales totaling $4.7 billion, a year-over-year decrease of 6%, per its fiscal Q4 2024 earnings report. For the full year, the marketer said net sales totaled $19.9 billion, a 1% decline from the year prior. For its fiscal 2025 outlook, the marketer expects organic net sales to range between flat and up 1%.