Candy maker Ferrero announces Super Bowl ad, World Cup promotions

Ferrero North America is planning to spend more than $100 million on marketing campaigns tied to the Super Bowl and World Cup next year.

The sports push comes as the confectioner’s parent company drives further into the United States through acquisitions and investments in domestic production. Ferrero, which was founded in Italy but is now based in Luxembourg, entered North America nearly a half century ago, but the company only really started investing in the market over the past decade.

In July, Ferrero bought cereal maker WK Kellogg for $3.1 billion, the latest in a deal spree that included snapping up Nestle’s U.S. candy business and Halo Top owner Wells Enterprises.

The Nutella owner, which just started its fiscal 2026 in September, is preparing itself for its biggest year yet in the U.S., where it is the third-largest candy company, trailing only Hershey and Mars. Its privately held parent company saw an 8.9% increase in turnover — or revenue — in the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2024, Ferrero disclosed in its most recent financial data. In the past year, Ferrero USA has seen dollar sales grow 4.5%, outpacing the broader confectionery and cookie categories, according to the company.

“We want to do something big to kind of reintroduce ourselves to North America,” said Michael Lindsey, chief business officer of Ferrero North America.

Ferrero North America’s bet on sports will kick off in February with the company’s first-ever Super Bowl ad, which will star Kinder Bueno. Its sister company Ferrara has previously aired spots during the big game, including last year’s Nerds Gummy Clusters ad.

Then, starting in June, Ferrero North America is planning a slate of promotions around the World Cup. Ads for its products will play before or after the games and the company plans to push promotions tied to roughly two dozen of its brands.

“Why sports? It’s still the largest audience, especially if you want to reach live consumers with something that they’re actually going to sit down in front of a TV and watch,” Lindsey said. “Especially the Super Bowl, they watch TV with an intent to watch the commercials, which is a very unique situation today when you’re trying to reach consumers who are skipping past your ads or getting up to make a sandwich.”

Earlier this year, more than 127.7 million viewers tuned in to watch the NFL’s championship game, setting a record, according to Nielsen Media Research. All of those eyeballs can make it appealing for companies to pay the hefty price tag for airing a commercial during the game. Advertisers are reportedly paying as much as $8 million to Comcast‘s NBCUniversal for a 30-second spot during February’s match. In early September, NBCUniversal said it had already sold all of its Super Bowl ad spots.

And while football still reigns as the top sport for viewers in the U.S., soccer has been gaining ground. A reported 26 million U.S. viewers watched the 2022 World Cup final.

For the Super Bowl, all focus will be on Kinder…