As the General Mills marketing people tell it: “When Rose and Tim Totino opened their first pizzeria in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1951, they probably never imagined that they’d be serving up 300 million Totino’s Party Pizza each year.”
Here’s another thing Rose and Tim could never have imagined: an alien hawking their frozen pizza rolls during a football game with 120 million viewers.
Totino’s just released its Super Bowl 2025 spot, titled “Chazmo Finally Goes Home,” marking the pizza snack brand’s inaugural entry in the Big Game and General Mills’ return to it after a decade-long hiatus. Produced by Dentsu Creative, the spot also sees the return of comedians Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson, though the undisputed star is that mildly creepy, mop-like alien named Chazmo.
The spot closes a story arc that began in October with an ad titled “Chazmo Goes Home.” In it, Robinson and Richardson play the suburban dads of a bunch of kids whose hearts have been captured by the tiny alien, who must finally return to his home planet.
The creature doesn’t quite get his ship off the ground in that ad, however, owing to some bickering with the dads over Chazmo having eaten all the Totino’s Pizza Rolls during his stay in the garage.
In the half minute that General Mills bought for him in Super Bowl 59—$8 million seems to be the going rate this year—Chazmo finally steps aboard his craft, only to be crushed to death in the teeth of its retractable doors—an ignominious (and surprisingly bloodless) end for the galactic varmint.
Following his daughter’s bloodcurdling shriek at the sight of Chazmo’s dislodged eyeballs, Robinson’s character delivers a tone-deaf dad speech on tragic ends: “Unfortunately, that’s… that’s just a part of life.”
The double-barreled star power of Richardson and Robinson (who appeared together in the Jason Sudeikis and Lorne Michaels-produced Detroiters) stands behind more than a darkly amusing ad. As it turns out, Robinson and Zach Kanin—writer for the actor’s sketch comedy show I Think You Should Leave—cooked up the Chazmo character between them.
Not without the endorsement of headquarters, of course. “We think kids plus aliens plus clueless dads is a classic trope that spans all generations,” business unit director Blake Holman told ADWEEK.