When older millennials were craving comfort during the pandemic, Re-Krafting the 80s set out to rewind the clock to the cheesiest decade in advertising history with time-traveling spots that debuted on Jimmy Kimmel’s “Live in Front of a Studio Audience.” Re-Krafting the 80s integrated Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles, Kool-Aid, and Heinz Ketchup into the live on-air taping drawing on period talent including Alfonso Ribeiro, Jennifer Beals, and Bob Vila. KraftHeinz stole the show with seamless branded entertainment that brought millions of viewers back to their favorite memories of the beloved 80s.

Like other big food companies, KraftHeinz struggled to maintain the admiration of a generation that grew up on its beloved brands who were now less likely to serve them to their own families as parents.

Over the last year, KraftHeinz had been hard at work refreshing its brand images and chose to steer clear of all-things nostalgia in fear of reinforcing “outdated, big brand” perceptions. But, as shutdowns and stay-at-home orders spread throughout the country, people were turning to the old standbys for emotional comfort rather than health and well-being.

KraftHeinz found itself between a proverbial hot dog and bun. With new campaigns in-market that strategically moved away from their older brand assets and image, the heritage brands recognized the opportunity to lean hard into the past and needed the Goldilocks of brand entertainment integrations that had just the right amount of newness and nostalgia.

It’s the 1980s. A time when Oscar Mayer, Kool-Aid, Heinz Ketchup, and Kraft Singles weren’t just advertising icons, they were pop culture influencers.

In collaboration with Kimmelot, as part of the Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear’s sitcom-reenactment special, we created a first-of-its-kind unskippable “live” brand integration to relive KraftHeinz’s heyday by Re-Krafting the 80s for a modern-day television experience.

The four branded integrations came to life in the form of “of the era” commercials that paid homage to classic old brand ads (Calvin Klein, Drug Free America, Days of Our Lives, This Old House & After School Specials) and incorporated iconic talent from that era (Alfonso Ribeiro, Jennifer Beals and Bob Vila) who took to social media to gin up 80s excitement and engage KraftHeinz brands in real time. The conversation took off, lasting several days after the show.

When the nation was craving comfort, we channeled our inner Tootie and set out to write a love letter to our favorite decade in the form of Re-Krafting the 80s, integrating content that would be just as entertaining as it would be effective.

The overarching media goal was to create positive sentiment and engagement among a grown-up generation of babies from the 80s. And nothing creates positive feelings more than the nostalgic brands of our childhood. People remember things that make them laugh and through this partnership, we were able to create a massively successful piece of branded entertainment that was uniquely made for an older millennial audience. Each spot brought a timeless brand truth to life in a new and unexpected way to re-invigorate lapsed love among a generation seeking a meaningful reminder of a simpler time.

“Live In Front of a Studio Audience” presented a unique opportunity for KraftHeinz to capitalize on an audience tuning in for a real-time experience. The concept of paying homage to classic 80s ads went from ideation to conception in only 20 days. The integrations were attached to the show and ran seamlessly prior to the traditional commercial breaks, allowing viewers to be truly transported back to the 80s and enabled the brand to create a Super Bowl moment with a Super Bowl price tag. The live show aired nationally on ABC on December 7, 2021, to 6M viewers and re-aired in January. Following the on-air debut, the ads were shared online across KraftHeinz and talent social accounts. The segment was also available to viewers on Hulu and the ad integrations remained attached to the show as part of the programming so Hulu viewers could also get that in-world experience.

Re-Krafting the 80s was a hit, as many viewers said the KraftHeinz commercials were the real stars of the show. 72 hours after the premiere, Re-Krafting the 80s garnered more than 1B earned media impressions with placements across lifestyle, entertainment, culture, and trade press.

Viewers didn’t just watch the show, they engaged with it. Two million viewers went to re-watch the spots on Youtube. Additionally, the Kraft “Singles” Hotline (1-833-976-SNGL) had a whopping 6,500+ voicemails within the first 48 hours of the show premiering.

Most importantly, we were able to recreate the KraftHeinz heyday and return the brands to their original pop culture influence. KraftHeinz brands saw a 6.68x lift in net sentiment across all brands and 91% positive sentiment. KraftHeinz brands also saw a 200% increase in social engagement for the 60 days post show driven by “remember when” nostalgic conversations sparked by the integration.