Lay’s® and Disney Celebrate Groundhog Day With First-Ever Daylong Timeloop Ad Takeover on ABC
The Stunt, Co-Created by the Creative Minds at Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort and Jimmy Kimmel’s KIMMELOT, Stars Groundhog Day’s Stephen Tobolowsky
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–To commemorate Groundhog Day, Lay’s® and Disney Advertising signed a unique sponsorship deal for eight custom ads, produced by Maximum Effort and KIMMELOT, set to run on ABC on Friday, February 2. Starring actor, Stephen Tobolowsky, who played an iconic character from the 1993 cult classic feature film of the same name, and Artemis Pebdani from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” the ads, which spotlight eight flavors of Frito-Lay chips, bring viewers into a questionable time loop where Tobolowsky experiences the “same” day over and over again with the only variation being a different chip flavor. You can see the ads 
Lay’s serves as the sole sponsor of the Groundhog Lay’s® activation, marking the first time Disney has offered an exclusive sponsorship opportunity featuring a brand suite across an entire day. The ads will air during ABC’s ‘Good Morning America;’ ‘GMA3;’ ‘General Hospital;’ ‘Shark Tank;’ ‘20/20;’ and ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ on February 2.
The spirited creative endeavor was developed in collaboration with Ryan Reynolds’ production and marketing company, Maximum Effort and Jimmy Kimmel’s creative lab, KIMMELOT. This marks the fourth time that Maximum Effort and KIMMELOT have collaborated on a custom project, including the development of retro 80’s spots for ABC’s “Live in Front of a Studio Audience.”
“Creativity is at the core of everything we do at Frito-Lay and that allows us to bring fun ideas to life over, and over, and over again.” said Chris Bellinger, Chief Creative Officer, Frito-Lay. “We are excited to entertain our consumers with an unconventional series of custom spots that play on the theme of an iconic film and day.”
“Creativity is at the core of everything we do at Maximum Effort and that allows us to bring fun ideas to life over, and over, and over again.” said Ryan Reynolds, Co-Founder, Maximum Effort. “We are excited to entertain our consumers with an unconventional series of custom spots that play on the theme of an iconic film and day.”
“Creativity is at the core of everything we do at Kimmelot and that allows us to bring fun ideas to life over, and over, and over again.” said Jimmy Kimmel. “We are excited to entertain our consumers with an unconventional series of custom spots that play on the theme of an iconic film and day.”
“Creativity is at the core of everything we do at ABC and that allows us to bring fun ideas to life over, and over, and over again.” said John Campbell, SVP, Entertainment and Streaming Solutions, Disney Advertising. “We are excited to entertain our consumers with an unconventional series of custom spots that play on the theme of an iconic film and day.”
Tune in live to ABC on Friday, February 2 to watch the creatives. Additionally, these spots will run on Hulu.
Groundhog Lay’s Creative Credits
Ideation and Creation by Maximum Effort and Kimmelot
Staring Stephen Tobolowsky and Artemis Pebdani
Produced by Really Original
Directed by Oren Brimer
About Frito-Lay North America
Frito-Lay North America is the $23 billion convenient foods division of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. Frito-Lay snacks include Lay’s® and Ruffles® potato chips, Doritos® and Tostitos® tortilla chips and branded dips, Cheetos® snacks, Stacy’s® pita chips, PopCorners® popped-corn snacks, SunChips® multigrain snacks and Fritos® corn chips. The company operates 30+ manufacturing facilities across the U.S. and Canada, more than 200 distribution centers and services 315,000 retail customers per week through its direct-store-delivery model. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate website, www.fritolay.com, on X (@fritolay), on Instagram (@fritolay) and on Facebook (Frito-Lay).
About Disney Advertising
Disney Advertising builds relationships between brands and audiences with the imagination and innovation that has defined The Walt Disney Company for nearly 100 years by leveraging the most advanced ad portfolio powered by technology and data to drive outcomes and impact for clients. Disney Advertising is committed to the evolution of the global media ecosystem by prioritizing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as a business imperative, and as a key to greater representation in storytelling.
About Maximum Effort
Maximum Effort makes movies, tv series, content and cocktails for the personal amusement of Hollywood Star Ryan Reynolds. We occasionally share them with the general public. Producers of the Deadpool films, Free Guy, The Adam Project and Welcome to Wrexham.
About Kimmelot
Established in 2018, Kimmelot serves as Jimmy Kimmel’s creative lab, developing and producing television, live experiences, digital programming, films, mobile applications and products.
Kimmelot’s productions include ABC series, “The Prank Panel,” the hit ABC game show “Generation Gap” starring Kelly Ripa, VICE TV’s “Super Maximum Retro Show,” “Mark Rober’s Revengineers” for Discovery, ABC’s multiple Emmy® Award-winning “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” specials with Norman Lear, and a 21st season of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” “Crank Yankers” for Comedy Central, the four-part ESPN documentary “Once Upon a Time in Queens” about the 1986 New York Mets and ABC’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.” In addition to its branding work in partnership with Maximum Effort, Kimmelot has worked with Major League Baseball on last year’s award winning Opening Day campaign, as well as content creation for several Diageo brands.
Contacts
Molly Alves – [email protected]
