Goldfish blends nostalgia with better-for-you messaging in new ads

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Goldfish blends nostalgia with better-for-you messaging in new ads

“The Snack That Smiles Back” brand platform gets an update with help from Mischief @ No Fixed Address and will run across paid, earned and owned media.

Dive Brief:

• Goldfish has reworked its “The Snack That Smiles Back” brand platform for a new generation as back-to-school enters full swing, according to information shared with Marketing Dive.
• The new campaign, created in partnership with Mischief @ No Fixed Address, spans paid, earned and owned media. Whimsical, stop-motion-style spots emphasize the quality of ingredients, with additional assets to roll out in the future.
• The revamped platform is intended to evoke feelings of nostalgia in parents while adapting to modern concerns around food quality and ultra-processed foods. It is also part of Goldfish’s larger marketing strategy to be a brand largely aimed at kids while also appealing to adults.

Dive Insight:

Goldfish parent The Campbell’s Company brand is focusing squarely on parents this back-to-school season with the latest iteration of the nearly 30-year-old brand platform, “The Snack That Smiles Back.” The campaign’s messaging focuses on Goldfish's use of real cheese, lack of artificial flavors or colors and the fact that the snack is baked, not fried, and combines this with identifiable characters and brand assets to strike a balance between nostalgia and engaging the modern consumer.

Better-for-you snacking has outpaced the category overall as consumers look to healthier options without sacrificing convenience. Additionally, parents are looking for better options for their children, with only 38% saying they are satisfied with the current options available.

Spots range from six to 30 seconds. In the 10-second “Talk Show” spot, a Goldfish introduces the guest by saying he has “no artificial colors or flavors,” before finding out the guest was eaten. In the 30-second spot, two kids look into a bag of Goldfish where two characters are engaged in a photo shoot.

“The goal of this campaign was to show that Goldfish is a snack parents can feel good about giving their kids, and we were really excited to use ‘The Snack That Smiles Back’ to do just that. It’s such an iconic and memorable line, but it also inspired the concept behind the work,” said Chris da Roza, associate creative director, Mischief @ No Fixed Address, in press materials.

Using nostalgia to appeal to parents is a cornerstone of kids’ food-related marketing. Last year, subscription-based kids food company Little Spoon collaborated with Mattel-owned children’s character Barney in an effort to bridge the gap between millennials and their children. Welch’s took a similar approach in October when a child starred in creative for the first time since the ‘90s.

The latest iteration of “The Snack That Smiles Back” isn’t the first time Mischief has targeted parents in creative centered around a kid-focused brand. In 2023, it worked with Kraft Heinz on packets of Capri Sun in sleek packaging meant to resemble high-end headphones, touting the drink as “wireless kid-noise cancelling technology.”

The Campbell’s Company’s fiscal third quarter ended May 3, 2026, with sales totaling $2.4 billion, a 4% decrease year-over-year, according to an earnings release. Marketing and selling expenses totaled $214 million, a 1% YoY decrease. In the same release, CEO Mick Beekhuizen noted “early signs of progress” in the snacks part of the business due to a prioritization of Goldfish’s core market of households with kids.

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