Frito-Lay reaffirms commitment to diverse creators with new campaign

Dive Brief:

• Frito-Lay today (Dec. 12) announced a new ad campaign, “My Joy,” that showcases stories of joy told by five rising creators across fashion, music, food, art and sports, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
• Ads will air as 30- and 60-second spots on broadcast as well as on digital platforms including Meta, YouTube, Revolt, LATV and Fuse. The campaign was created with director Robert Llauro and marketing agency Obsidianworks.
• “My Joy” continues the snack marketer’s efforts to increase investments in diverse creative voices as a way to meet the demands of consumers who believe representation has a positive impact on society.

Dive Insight:

“My Joy” is Frito-Lay’s latest effort to amplify diverse creative voices to appeal to today’s values-conscious consumers. Increased representation is seen as a positive by a majority of consumers, with groups including Gen Z, Black, Hispanic/Latino and Asian consumers overindexing on this front, according to Numerator data shared by the PepsiCo-owned snacks division.

The 60-second “My Joy” spot highlights diverse creators and businesses across disciplines, including fashion company Color Me Courtney; Filipino-American artist DJ Lex; Chinese-Thai-Dominican fusion restaurant Forsyth Fire Escape; basketball player Briana Green; and Colombian tattoo artist Michelle Santana. Frito-Lay brands including Cheetos, Doritos, Ruffles and Funyuns are showcased throughout the ad.

The campaign was created with media and marketing agency Obsidianworks, which was co-founded by actor-director Michael B. Jordan and former Nike marketer Chad Easterling. The latter described the ads as a celebration of the five creators featured.

“By honoring their multi-cultural and multi-faceted journeys, we don’t just amplify their individuality, we illuminate the collective power of historically excluded narratives to inspire and uplift,” Easterling said in a statement. “This campaign is a testament to the endless avenues through which joy finds its expression.”

Frito-Lay’s continued efforts around diversity come as the strategy, a popular one over the last few years for marketers, has come under fire as larger culture wars have increasingly subsumed marketing.