Dive Brief:
- Jif on Monday launched “Every Jif’ing Thing,” a campaign that demonstrates different ways to use the product beyond sandwiches. The J.M. Smucker peanut butter appears in just 4% of total snacking occasions, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
- A 60-second hero reimagines the brand’s iconic red, blue and green logo as a variety of actions, including “dip,” “sip” and “mix,” that speak to other use cases. The ad is soundtracked to a remixed version of classical epic “O Fortuna.”
- The campaign will run across broadcast, streaming, online video, Meta, TikTok and Pinterest and was developed by PSOne, Publicis’ bespoke solution for J.M. Smucker with creative led by BBH USA.
Dive Insight:
Jif’s new effort taps into the brand’s recognizability and turns it into a vehicle to suggest new occasions for the peanut butter. Most consumers (85%) could recognize the Jif logo by its red, blue and green stripes, but mostly associate the brand with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, per data shared by the company.
To expand beyond the childhood staple, Jif reworked its three-letter brandmark and three-color logo into different ways to use peanut butter, including as a dip, a snack and an ingredient in smoothies, protein bowls and pasta dishes. The 60-second spot also has the brand show up on a mock cooking show and as the topic of a content creator’s video.
The creative is set to a version of “O Fortuna,” one of the most iconic classical works ever recorded, reworking the Latin lyrics into ones about the product. The movement, originally by Carl Orff, has appeared in film, TV and commercials from brands including Gatorade and Domino’s.
“Jif’s logo is so recognizable that changing it felt almost forbidden, which is exactly what made the idea fun,” Yohan Daver, executive creative director at BBH USA, said in a statement. “Reimagining ‘O Fortuna’ with a full choir gave that versatility the epic, unexpected treatment it deserved.”
In addition to the campaign, Jif will unveil a refreshed visual identity. The brand worked with Zenith for media and paid social, Digitas for social creative, Saatchi X for commerce and MSL for public relations and influencers.
Jif has previously sought to expand the role it plays in consumers’ lives, including a 2024 “Save the Celery” campaign timed to the Super Bowl that encouraged consumers to pair the oft-overlooked vegetable with peanut butter. The brand in 2024 also promoted its peanut butter and chocolate-flavored spread with a campaign that riffed on HBO hit “Succession.”
J.M. Smucker in June reported net sales for the 2026 fiscal year of $9.1 billion, an increase of 4%. For the 2027 fiscal year that started May 1, the marketer plans to spend about 5.7% of net sales, almost $500 million, on marketing — about a $30 million year-over-year increase, executives said on a call discussing the earnings.
“It will be fairly balanced throughout the year, but it will begin in our first quarter in terms of those investments to support the portfolio,” CFO Tucker Marshall said on the call. “We are committed to the portfolio and the spend of those marketing dollars as we move forward.”
