Nutella owners plan $100m World Cup and Super Bowl marketing spree
Nutella owner Ferrero will spend over $100m on marketing campaigns related to the Fifa World Cup and 2026 Super Bowl.
The confectioner, founded in Italy but based in Luxembourg, has been in the United States for decades but is looking to surge into the North American sports sector.
The United States will co-host the 2026 Fifa World Cup, with Canada and Mexico, while the next Super Bowl will be staged at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers.
Ferrero’s latest US acquisition saw them purchase cereal maker WK Kellogg for over $3bn in July and trails only Hershey and Mars in the sector across the States.
Chief business officer of Ferrero North America, Michael Lindsey, told CNBC that the brand wants to “reintroduce ourselves to North America”, adding that “we’re going all in. We’ll have one promotion and one set of packaging”.
Super Bowl ad?
“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 added.
“Especially the Super Bowl, [fans] 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.”
Ferrero’s brand portfolio includes mints Tic Tac, chocolate confectioners Thorntons, egg makers Kinder the eponymous snackable treat Ferrero Rocher.
Super Bowl adverts are famously expensive, and tend to be mega production products with some of the world’s largest stars.
In 2025 David Beckham and Matt Damon teamed up for Stella Artois; Matthew McConaughey and Charlie XCX featured for Uber Eats; and Adam Brody and Nick Offerman sold their trademark mustaches for Pringles.
The Fifa 2026 World Cup hasn’t featured the United States as host since 1994, with Mexico involved for the first time since 1986 and Canada for the first time ever. Advert campaigns for the tournament are expected to mimic those for the Super Bowl.