Description
The meat stick is America's fastest growing snack category (with sales hitting $3B last year), but it's still a misunderstood snack. From outdated stereotypes of gas-station snacking and macho man diets to new offerings promoting nutrition alone - the old narratives around who meat sticks are for, and why they're worth craving, needs to be re-written.
In a new campaign we’re introduced to YUMBO, a brand-new, bigger, bolder, meatier meat stick option from Carl Buddig & Co. The humorous campaign hinges on an unexpected “meathead” - flipping the meaning from swole gym bro to anyone with an unapologetic craving for meat - and plays on the jumbo size of this new product to hit the snack aisle.
At the center of the new campaign, Meat for Real Meatheads, is a “mockumentary” style spot that tells the story of Mindy Porter, a woman with a big meat craving since the moment she could crawl. As she reflects on her life as a “meathead,” the spot reveals her intense love of meat has gotten her into some pretty awkward social situations. That is, until she found “YUMBO” - the socially acceptable way to satisfy her meat cravings … without setting her office on fire.
Created in partnership with agency of record, Havas Chicago, and shot in Chicago with Director, Brandt Lewis, of Sanctuary, the campaign will appear across various online video platforms and paid social, with various cutdowns of the hero spot running on Hulu CTV, Disney / ESPN, YouTube, META and TikTok. Additional social and digital assets will also roll out as the campaign runs through October.
This is Havas Chicago’s first campaign for the new YUMBO brand since being selected as agency of record for parent company Carl Buddig & Company, the family-owned and operated manufacturer of quality meats and snack products, in March.
YUMBO can be found online and at select grocery stores and gas stations nationwide including Amazon, Meijer, HyVee Fast & Fresh, Blain’s Farm and Fleet, Speedway, Circle K, Eg America, Maverik, Piggly Wiggly, ShopRite, Wawa, 7-Eleven and more.
This professional campaign titled 'Meat for Real Meatheads' was published in United States in July, 2025. It was created for the brand: YUMBO, by ad agency: Havas Chicago. This Film medium campaign is related to the Food industry and contains 1 media asset. It was submitted 6 months ago.
Credits
HAVAS CHICAGO (Agency)
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER: Frank Dattalo
EVP, HEAD OF PRODUCTION: Jason Georgen
SVP, GROUP CREATIVE Director: Jeff Beck
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Brett Edwards
ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Jane Owenby, Jared Owenby
ART DIRECTOR: Eric Thompson
COPYWRITER: Peter Cevallos
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jason Passaniti
PRODUCTION BUSINESS MANAGER: Danielle Smalls
SVP, GROUP STRATEGY DIRECTOR: Claudia Reeder
STRATEGY: Brianne Johnson
SVP, GROUP ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Ashley Rosenow
ACCOUNT DIRECTORr: Michael Pluszczynski
ACCOUNT MANAGER: Tommy Boyd
SANCTUARY CONTENT (Production Company)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Director: Brandt Lewis
President/Executive Producer: Preston Lee
Head of Production: Elisha Gustafson
Line Producer: Ross Zuchowski
Director Of Photography:
CUTTERS (Editorial)
Location: Chicago, IL
Editor: Grant Gustafson
Assistant Editor: Kaeley Melahiphy
Executive Producer: Heather Richardson
Producer: Yianni Frangos
ANOTHER COUNTRY (Audio)
Location: Chicago, IL
Engineer: Drew Weir
Managing Director: Tim Konn
Producer: Josh Hunnicutt
COMPANY 3 (Color)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Sr. Colorist: Tyler Roth
Producer: Jenny Roberts
FLAVOR (VFX/Finish)
Location: Chicago, IL
Managing Director: Neal Cohen
Producer: Yianni Frangos
Client Credits:
Matt Barlow, Vice President of Brand and Commerce Marketing at Buddig
Charlie Kuoni, Senior Brand Manager
Kelly Zaborniak, Digital & E-Commerce Marketing Manager