Dive Brief:

• Bumble Bee Seafoods is throwing it back to the early 2000s by putting a spin on a popular song from the era, BBMak’s “Back Here,” to promote its tuna products to millennials as a go-to snack, according to information shared with Marketing Dive.
• The song has been transformed into “Snack Meal, Baby,” with a music-video inspired ad spot featuring all three original band members: Mark Barry, Christian Burns and Stephen McNally. Paid media will span social media and connected TV.
• Following the release of a 30-second video on May 20, additional vignettes are set to run throughout May and June. The spot showcases the brand's classic tuna products, new flavors like Applewood Smoke and Snack on the Run tuna salad kits.

Dive Insight:

Bumble Bee Seafoods is hoping to engage millennials with a new campaign that taps into nostalgia for the Y2K era with a remix of a classic boy-band hit, reflecting similar moves by other brands to leverage music as way to grab the attention of this coveted cohort.

Created in partnership with Socialdeviant, the campaign puts a tuna-fueled twist on a popular summer song from 2000. The video ad features all three members of the band and was shot in a ‘90s style that includes soft lighting and synchronized dancing. BBMak is currently touring in the U.S. on the nostalgia-fueled Pop 2000 tour, further helping to support the song’s relevance.

In Bumble Bee’s campaign, the BBMak members lament the current state of snacking, singing about how they really crave tuna. The ad positions Bumble Bee as a healthy snacking option at a time when 88% of consumers eat snacks daily and 56% discover new snacks on social media, according to Mondelez International's latest State of Snacking report. Additionally, the demand for high-protein and healthy snack alternatives continues to rise. Packaged tuna is experiencing its own period of growth, with the market expected to reach $13.8 billion by 2031, up substantially from its 2022 value of $8.9 billion.

Bumble Bee is not the first brand to embrace boy bands. In 2023, CSAA Insurance assembled multiple current and former boy band members for a campaign, while Meow Mix took a slightly different approach by forming their own boy band, the Tabby 5, made out of cats clad in denim.