Inside Kinder Bueno's Babies-in-Space Super Bowl Mission

Big Game debut flips popular 'no bueno' phrase

Ferrero Group is taking one giant leap for European chocolatiers this Sunday. The confectioner is advertising in the Super Bowl for the first time with its Kinder Bueno chocolate bar. 

The campaign is called “Yes Bueno,” angling to spark curiosity around the crispy hazelnut-cream bar. The brand flips the cultural trend of people saying “No bueno” (not good) as a fun way to make its Super Bowl debut. 

“Ferrero has been considering a Super Bowl ad for several years, and we chose Kinder Bueno because we see Kinder as one of the most under-leveraged brands in our portfolio,” says CMO Chad Stubbs. “The Super Bowl demonstrates our commitment to integrating our brands into consumer culture.”

The spot sees Kinder Bueno as the calm answer to the chaos of spaceflight and mission control. Oh, and there are floating babies and extra-terrestrials, too. Hollywood’s resident sci-fi actor William Fichtner and reality TV star Paige DeSorbo feature prominently. 

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“By uniting diverse communities across generations—sci-fi fans, pop culture enthusiasts, reality TV devotees and Ferrero fans—we’re connecting with many different demographics, which is exactly the point,” says Stubbs.

Anomaly handled the creative, with Björn Rühmann serving as director.

“We decided if this was the imaginative journey we wanted to take, it needed to have a cinematic quality that would match the best of sci-fi movies,” explains Stubbs. “We used a real fuselage with working lights and real astronaut suits. The team used a volumetric screen for the control room and black hole sequences, with in-camera capture reflecting off the actors’ faces. They built a real alien planet miniature set with in-camera lighting versus VFX.”

In addition to its game-day placement and treks across social, influence and e-commerce partnerships, “Yes Bueno” features limited-edition white and dark chocolate flavors featuring Super Bowl packaging. Additionally, the brand will run a 13-week sweepstake where consumers can register for weekly and grand prizes.