Frito-Lay Gives NFL Fans Taste of Victory in Pre-Super Bowl Ad

The snack giant recruited retired champs Rob Gronkowski, Marshawn Lynch, Troy Polamalu to give Lay's, Doritos, Ruffles, Cheetos a playoff push

Leaders from Glossier, Shopify, Mastercard and more will take the stage at Brandweek to share what strategies set them apart and how they incorporate the most valued emerging trends. Register to join us this September 23–26 in Phoenix, Arizona.

What did Frito-Lay see as the common thread linking Rob Gronkowski, Marshawn Lynch and Troy Polamalu?

Football? Sure. Super Bowl champions? Definitely: Polamalu with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006 and 2009, Lynch with the Seattle Seahawks in 2014 and Gronkowski with the New England Patriots in 2015, 2017 and 2019 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021.

Faded glory? That’s a subjective opinion. Gronkowski and Lynch haven’t turned 40, yet and Polamalu’s 42, but in National Football League terms, simply stepping away from the game adds some grey to a player’s beard and some haze to the memories of their greatest triumphs.

In Frito-Lay terms, they’re Super Bowl party chips that were crisp out of the bag in the first quarter, but left to wilt in the dip bowl until well after the final confetti fell. How do you restore that luster, that snap … that winning flavor?

In its NFL playoff campaign leading up to the Big Game, Frito-Lay uses its three NFL alums and a host of fans to posit that fresh bags of Lay’s, Ruffles, Doritos or Cheetos—collectively “The Official Chip of Super Bowl LVIII” (despite Cheetos’ puff status)—”taste like winning the Super Bowl.” Lynch and Gronkowski mull the merits of championship chips from their spots on the couch, while Polamalu tears into a bag of celebratory confetti at a barbershop—getting it tangled in his trademark locks in the process.


Troy Polamalu with a bag of Cheetos and confetti in his hair
Frito-Lay begins its march to the Super Bowl by putting confetti in Troy Polamalu’s hair.Frito-Lay

The 30-second “Taste of Super Bowl” spot from Frito-Lay’s in-house team debuted during the NFL playoffs Jan. 13 on Fox and will run through Super Bowl LVIII. Frito-Lay has products with the “Taste of Super Bowl” stamp on shelves now and is giving one football fan a chance to press the button launching confetti for the winning team at Super Bowl LVIII.

The first 500 eligible fans to scan a QR code on specially marked Frito-Lay snacks beginning January 25 at 12:00 a.m. ET will win a Taste of Super Bowl confetti kit and be entered for a chance to win a trip to Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas to meet Marshawn Lynch and press the official Super Bowl LVIII confetti button. 

Frito-Lay is also heading to Big Game site LasVegas to set up a “Chip Strip” Super Bowl activation on the Brooklyn Bridge at the New York, New York Hotel Feb. 7 through 11. 

Fans in Vegas can play the Frito-Lay Snackpot game, take vows in its Cheetos Chapel and have a seat in a flamin’ hot vehicle on the Vegas Strip. As Frito-Lay’s championship trio knows, the taste of victory lingers, but a Super Bowl experience has a far longer shelf life.