In a move that couldn’t be more on brand, MoonPie got in on the Super Bowl action on Sunday by airing an ad of its own … exclusively at gas pumps across America.
To be fair, it’s a sound strategy. We assume the chocolatey marshmallow cakes are a staple at gas stations, and the ad clocks in at 80 seconds, giving patrons more than enough time to fill up their tanks and wonder what the hell they just watched.
Without further ado, here it is.
Ok I’m posting our commercial for #TheBigThing here but please also go watch it at your local gas station as soon as possible pic.twitter.com/FKxIvcLyXx
— MoonPie (@MoonPie) February 2, 2020
True MoonPie fans will know that this isn’t a one-off thing. The Chattanooga, Tenn.-based brand—best known for its wry tweets—has been having a bit of fun with what it refers to as #TheBigThing since 2018, when it tweeted out nine faux Super Bowl commercial scripts.
In typical MoonPie fashion, they were incredibly off the wall. Three of them were turned into actual ads the following year, all of which ran online.
This year, the brand took things a step further by elaborating on one of last year’s ads, which featured a “MoonPie Child” meeting its adoptive family. From what we can tell, MoonPie Child doesn’t appear to be enjoying life in suburbia—but hey, at least it got to enjoy its day in the sun on “hundreds of thousands” of fuel pump screens around the country.
The stunt was pulled off in partnership with full-service agency Tombras and GSTV, a network that specializes in video content at gas stations.
“When Tombras approached us, we immediately realized their idea was a stroke of genius—and not just because of the spot’s creative vision,” Sean McCaffrey, president and CEO at GSTV, said. “Brands today know it’s increasingly difficult to find moments when consumer attention is truly focused, so with an unavoidably attention-grabbing spot, and a media buy that leverages the full scale and capabilities of GSTV, it’s the perfect way to stand out.”
All of this begs the question: What will MoonPie do next? Maybe next year we’ll see a local Super Bowl buy, but even that seems too mainstream for its liking. Only time will tell.