Inside Totino's Spacey Debut on the Big Game

Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson re-encounter a snack-starved alien

Totino’s Pizza Rolls relies on beloved comedy duo Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson and a peckish space alien in “Chazmo Finally Goes Home,” the brand’s Super Bowl debut.

The trio first encountered one another last fall when the extraterrestrial visited an Earthly suburb and won the hearts of local kids while eating a whole lot of Totino’s Pizza Rolls. Robinson and Richardson played neighborhood dads who weren’t so thrilled that Chazmo devoured their stash.

This time around, the insatiable alien meets an untimely end. While the kiddos are in tears, Tim and Sam don’t feel so bad about saying goodbye.

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Zach Kanin, co-creator, producer and writer of Detroiters—the Comedy Central series with Robinson and Richardson as Motor City ad guys—penned the Super Bowl spot, directed by Alice Mathias.

Here, Blake Holman, Totino’s business unit director at General Mills, and Alyssa Ollis, GCD at Dentsu Creative, discuss the commercial’s development.

Muse: What do you want to accomplish in the Super Bowl?

Blake Holman: We wanted to continue to provide fans with a hilarious and memorable ad that will make them run to make some fresh Totino’s Pizza Rolls. We also wanted to insert our beloved brand into game day conversations to reach new fans and take our snackability to the national stage.

Why collaborate with Kanin and Mathias?

Holman: Their ability to work with Tim and Sam created a fresh and hilarious moment that resonated with our audience last year. Collaborating with them again was a natural choice, as their creative vision aligns with our entertainment-first approach.

It appears to be game over for Chazmo in this spot. But maybe he is revived? Perhaps he has a twin?

You never know if our beloved friend will be coming back.

Take me through the process of creating and designing the alien. Is Chazmo CGI, or a puppet?

Alyssa Ollis: Chazmo was created practically by Rick Lazzarini and his team at The Character Shop. Rick worked closely with Gifted Youth, Dentsu Creative and General Mills to bring to life a creature that was as expressively emotive as possible. The goal was to create a being that was lovable and endearing to juxtapose against the dark irreverence of Tim and Sam’s comedy. Rick and his team of artists did an amazing job.

Any fun memories from the shoot?

Ollis: Getting to watch Tim and Sam’s chemistry on set. That chemistry is a big part of the reason the duo is so popular with their audience on social and beyond. The two of them are real-life best friends. So, it was a blast to get to watch them play off of each other’s energy. They ended up delivering a deep well of wild lines that had everyone on set cracking up.

What was the one thing you felt like you needed to get right for this spot to work?

Ollis: Lately, we’ve been hearing more and more about the industry starting to head back toward comedic advertising. Knowing the Big Game was going to be heavy on comedy this year, we pushed for a spot that would not only be funny but also shockingly unexpected. That’s why we partnered with Tim and Sam, not just for the Big Game spot, but for the fall campaign, too.

(Which brand will take home the 2025 Super Clio for the Big Game’s best ad? We’ll find out on Feb. 10.)