Sun Puppets and Food Faces: Totino’s Drops Surreal Ads to Debut Breakfast Bites

Some brands—but not many—can get away with “unhinged” as a thematic cornerstone of their advertising. Totino’s, best known for its pizza rolls, counts itself among that wacky niche, with the latest evidence being an absurdist campaign steeped in ‘90s nostalgia and sight gags.

And if you don’t get the joke, well, you’re not the demo.

The brand, working with agency partner Dentsu Creative, is introducing its first offering in the breakfast category with ads that feature a food-centric momstache, a freakish sun puppet, and a disembodied zombie arm in a freezer. 

There’s also the return of a humanoid character from a previous campaign, dubbed Toti, who appears to be made entirely of Totino’s puffed-and-stuffed products.

Purposely low-fi and overly cheerful, the two new spots resurrect the jingle with original ditties (from music producer Butter) and harken back to classic TV commercials to grab the attention of the target Gen Z audience.

‘Moments of weirdness’

As a concept, the team wanted to focus on “wholesome mornings,” but with a comically surreal twist, according to Alyssa Ollis, group creative director at Dentsu Creative.

Creatives imagined “moments of weirdness breaking into that familiar, traditional breakfast space,” Ollis told Adweek. “Then once we started thinking about the songs, it brought us back to old commercials we grew up with, and we just thought, ‘yes, let’s mess with that.’”

The result is “Wakey Wakey” and “Breakfast Momstache,” which aim to distance Totino’s Breakfast Snack Bites from established players in a crowded grocery segment and, in essence, change young consumers’ behavior.

Studies from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention have revealed that 75% of teens regularly skip breakfast, with the brand dissecting the root causes.

“We talked a lot about the difficulty of teen mornings, the unwillingness to roll out of bed and get going,” Ollis said, noting that Totino’s execs wanted to “amp up the idea of ‘quick and easy.’”

‘Visually unhinged’

And as for the ridiculousness of it all, “it’s crucial to surprise people and show them something they’ve never seen before,” Ollis said. “We also love work that has a great and unique visual component.”

Young consumers, even those who are already devoted to pizza rolls, aren’t easy to impress with marketing messages. They also “have infinite access to their favorite types of entertainment, every waking moment of their lives,” Ollis said, adding to the clutter and competition.

With the upbeat tagline “Start Your Day the Totino’s Way,” the campaign went for “visually unhinged,” per Ollis, bringing in director Emma Debany of WW7, who worked with the brand on last year’s quirk-filled “Area 425” ad series.

The campaign also continues a unique comedic spin that’s grounded in past work at a time when the broader ad industry is returning to humor as a way to turn consumers’ heads.

The throwback vibe that fuels the “Start Your Day” spots came naturally, Ollis said, though retro trappings have become one of the most prevalent ad trends. 

“One great thing about nostalgia is that there are millions of moments and truths and experiences to pull from,” Ollis said. If the team considered the old-school approach to be overused, “we would already be sick of it, and we wouldn’t have done the campaign this way.”

Fan demand

The product itself—which has been developed over the past few years as a kind of breakfast scramble in a shell, minus the eggs—came about because of consumer feedback, according to Taylor Roseberry, General Mills brand experience manager.

A breakfast entry “was the number one flavor that Totino’s fans asked for on social,” Roseberry said.

The snack bites come in three variations—filled with bacon, sausage, chorizo, meatless crumbles, cheese substitute, and other ingredients—and have been expanding distribution to more mass retailers since a May launch. 

“Start Your Day” is the line’s official coming-out party, with spots dropping Monday on streaming TV, online video, and paid social channels.