The Campbell’s Company refreshed its nearly 30-year-old brand platform, “The Snack That Smiles Back,” just in time for the back-to-school season. Developed in partnership with agency Mischief @ No Fixed Address, the campaign utilizes whimsical stop-motion spots to blend humor and nostalgia while highlighting key product attributes, including a baked recipe and 100% real cheese. Goldfish’s spot “Photoshoot” :30 was one of the standouts of this campaign.
Here’s what iSpot’s Creative Assessment platform revealed on actual viewer response to the spot.
The Details:
- The :30 “Photoshoot” delivered overall response (as measured by Ace Score) +85 pts above the snacks one-year category norm, landing in the 95th percentile—an elite result for the category:
- Every creative component compared very positively vs snacks benchmarks. Breakthrough (Attention +57 pts and Likeability +73 pts) and Relevance (+71 pts) were top decile strengths with Watchability in the very top percentile. Desire was the single strongest component (+88 pts), followed closely by Change (+80 pts).
- Information was also a strength (76th percentile), with emotional profiling indicating verbatim response reactions to the Healthy and Prodtastic messaging. Love It response was the top emotional pull, with the Surreal visuals and Nostalgic approach also resonating—this was a logic—and desire—forward ad wrapped in a light, playful emotional package.
- Brand (16%) was the standout Single Best Thing choice of gen pop U.S. viewers, outpacing the category norm (11%) by +5 pts, and unaided recall reached 90% (an impressive +19 pts above the category norm). The product itself (28% vs. 25% norm) was the single highest-scoring SBT choice by raw share, confirming the overall product appeal.
- Viewers across gender and generation approved of the creative, and Top 2 Box Purchase Intent came in +6 pts above the snacks norm, reflecting a creative execution that was an all-around success.
- Every creative component compared very positively vs snacks benchmarks. Breakthrough (Attention +57 pts and Likeability +73 pts) and Relevance (+71 pts) were top decile strengths with Watchability in the very top percentile. Desire was the single strongest component (+88 pts), followed closely by Change (+80 pts).
- Encouragingly, “Photoshoot” :30 earned its strongest response among brand considerers (9% of the audience) and current buyers (38%); however, the 49% of viewers who described themselves as lapsed Goldfish users responded at about normative levels to the ad:
- Viewer sentiment on the :30 “Photoshoot” reflects a strong performer that successfully balanced entertainment, brand building, and product messaging. The whimsical, playful creative approach aligned perfectly with Goldfish’s brand personality and appealed to both children and adults with its blend of nostalgia and animation. The execution of the humor was accessible without being juvenile.
- Viewers appreciated learning about “no artificial colors or preservatives,” and several comments indicated this information was new to them and influenced purchase intent, as intended.
- Limited “macabre” feedback, while minimal (2 comments), touched on an interesting tension in food advertising – personifying food that gets eaten – but did not cause concern here.
- Viewer sentiment on the :30 “Photoshoot” reflects a strong performer that successfully balanced entertainment, brand building, and product messaging. The whimsical, playful creative approach aligned perfectly with Goldfish’s brand personality and appealed to both children and adults with its blend of nostalgia and animation. The execution of the humor was accessible without being juvenile.
Sample comments on the :30 “Photoshoot”
“I really enjoyed the ad and it made me want to buy the product and I normally don’t buy this particular product. But I am now.”
Female 18-35
“I feel good about this ad because I thought Goldfish used unhealthy dyes and preservatives, but I have learned otherwise today.”
Male 18-35
“I grew up where Goldfish was a staple snack in my house and seeing a commercial like what used to be played on Saturday morning on Disney Channel again was nostalgic.”
Female 18-35
“I thought it was very funny and memorable and I like the talking Goldfish. However, having a child eat the goldfish RIGHT after we hear it talking might be a little macabre. But I liked it.”
Male 50+
“I like the scenes of the Goldfish crackers being personified. I like the whimsical nature of the commercial as well.”
Female 36-49
“I thought it was funny and imaginative. It’s like something a kid would be thinking of when playing with their food. My nieces play like that a lot.”
Female 36-49
“I like the photo shoot concept for the goldfish snack cracker. It is a memorable commercial and will bring the product to mind more often.”
Male 36-49
“I like knowing there are no artificial colors in Goldfish. Will be purchasing more for family gatherings that include kids.”
Female 50+
“The Goldfish photoshoot was so creative and funny. It definitely makes me want some snacks!”
Male 36-49
“I LOVE goldfish and had no idea about artificial dyes, but super good news. I definitely will be purchasing tons more.”
Female 18-35
“Very entertaining, yet educational. Definitely catch the attention of kids and adults.”
Female 36-49
- Among snack-category intenders, cracker eaters and cookie eaters responded the most positively (+90 pts, +85 pts) but the :30 creative (as well as the :15 cut) appealed across all types of snack intenders:
- Although the :15 “Photoshoot” edged out the longer form in overall response, the :30 cemented the Goldfish brand among a higher proportion of viewers and was more persuasive—with these strengths pointing to increased budget behind the :30 cut if possible:
- iSpot Media Measurement reports support only behind the :15 cut through 8/9/26.
- Both spots earned above-norm response across age/gender, ethnicity, and presence of kids, suggesting the :15 could be leaned on for reach and frequency plays, particularly with Black/African American audiences where it outperformed the :30:
- Although the “Photoshoot” ads rank highest in overall response among snack ads over the past 90 (and 180) days, Planters and Ritz drove higher consumer intent with ads first aired in June of this year:
- The “Photoshoot” creative executions earned the highest overall response from consumers among all Goldfish ads tested over the past 5 years:
- However, the 2024 “Together” campaign for the brand’s Goldfish + chips mashups (Goldfish flavored Crisps) sparked higher Top 2 Box intent.
Ineffective creative, even if delivered to the right audience, results in missed opportunity and performance shortfalls. Great creative delivered poorly also results in failed campaigns.
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Creative Agency: VMLY&R