Everyone who has ever enjoyed an Oreo cookie knows the pleasure of twisting the top off to get to the cream center. But few have probably made lifelong decisions based on which hand the cream lands.
Oreo’s Super Bowl spot, done in partnership with The Martin Agency, will air in the second quarter of the game, and it finds that some moments in history, both long ago and recent, may have been the result of twisting an Oreo apart.
Kris Jenner is the star of the “Twist On It” spot, but before the reality show mom appears, we see scenarios where fate fell to the hands of a cookie twist.
The 90-second extended cut explains the concept in multiple scenes. First up is a group of cave people, who see a meteor headed to Earth and use an Oreo to decide if they will stay with the dinosaurs or hightail it out. Similar treatments are given to the guardians at the gate of Troy as they greet a Trojan horse, federal agents as they witness a UFO, a technologist as he decides to make a robot think for itself, and record industry executives as they debate if boy bands will be a thing.
Then Jenner appears, on the phone supposedly back in time at the moment when she decides if the Kardashian family will agree to have their entire life filmed.
The 30-second cut leaves out a few of the scenarios but gets the main twisting point across.
“That simple action can be a playful means to making any decision—from everyday life moments to the choices that changed the course of history. That’s the beauty of ‘Twist On It.’ Its iterations and applications are endless,” Brittany Tooker, creative director at The Martin Agency, said in a statement.
Twist rather than coin flip
The Mondelēz brand had plenty of consumer insight about people twisting Oreo cookies to get to the creamy center, but having people make decisions because of the twist is a new concept.
The brand calls itself a “playfully provocative brand” that tries to solve for the seriousness of adulthood, so it wondered what might happen if it made Oreo the decision-maker on everyday decisions. That grew into the broader concept of using the cookie as a decision-maker in multiple mini-stories.
“We see it as the beginning of a new platform for Oreo, and the Big Game is a place for us to help launch it. But I think it has a lot of longevity,” Michelle Deignan, vice president, Oreo, U.S., told ADWEEK.
Deignan added that the twists are meant to drop Oreo into cultural shifts that have happened over the years. One of the biggest was the development of reality TV, which took off with the Kardashians.
A Kardashian twist
Jenner is one of the most famous matriarchs in the U.S. and the “momager” to the Kardashian family. On the show, the family is a fan of Oreo, so Jenner was a natural choice for a twist.
“The Kardashians are huge Oreo fans. Organically, the brand has shown up for many years in their shows, so it was a perfect partnership for us,” said Deignan.
Utilizing Jenner is one way the brand hopes to connect with fans, but the main focus for Oreo and The Martin Agency was to get the brand top of mind for consumers.
“Having the cookie at the center of that storytelling, and the playful tone of the brand come through, was really important. And I think that’s the magic that The Martin Agency was able to bring to the whole processes as we went through it,” said Deignan.
The spot was directed by Emmy winner Dave Laden and produced by Hungry Man Inc. and PXP.
Ready for another ‘dunk in the dark’ moment
Oreo made itself memorable in 2013 with its social post after the lights went out in the stadium during Super Bowl 47, suspending play for over 30 minutes. The brand smartly tweeted, “Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark.”
The impeccable timing and simplicity of the message dominated the conversation and made Oreo the buzz brand of the game.
While brands can’t know what each game will bring, they can plan for it. And Oreo, after over a decade away from the Big Game, is ready.
“Dunk in the dark” put Oreo on the map in terms of real-time marketing, according to Deignan, and the brand has since aimed to be a leader in social spaces.
“As we thought about this ‘Twist On It’ idea, we see the amplification of this idea as core to the success of the execution,” said Deignan.
The brand has its social team on the ready but is also looking to influencers to help reinforce the behavior of twisting with consumers. After all, Oreo knows people don’t just watch the game—they watch the game with their phones in their hands, so the social extension of the campaign is important in the messaging.
Oreo is preparing for an active 2024. It already released a new galaxy-inspired, limited-edition cookie and a contest for a fan to join the brand on an expedition to the edge of space with its Space Dunk Cookies. In Europe, it is “chasing playfulness” with a Pac-Man collaboration. The return to the Super Bowl makes a busy Q1 for Oreo, with a twist.
For the latest Super Bowl 58 advertising news—who’s in, who’s out, teasers, full ads and more—check out Adweek’s Super Bowl 2024 Ad Tracker and the rest of our stories here. And join us on the evening of Feb. 11 for the best in-game coverage of the commercials.
