There’s a time in every young person’s life when their parents sit them down and give them the talk – the “Sponsorship talk”. Oh, that doesn’t happen? Well, for advertising sake it does. This spot tells the story of a dad and a son sitting down to watch some football, eat some Little Caesars pizza, and have “the talk.” Because understanding big brand sponsorships is hard, so we broke it down metaphorically. We watch as our father tells his son, “You know son, when a pizza loves a football…very much, they become official.” Then, with a little help from Super Bowl-winning Quarterback Matthew Stafford, who just happens to be in the room, Little Timmy gets a literal taste of the Sponsorship – all while a live studio audience gives us a celebratory “awwwwwww.”

This was our first year being the Official Pizza Sponsor of the NFL. A BIG moment for Little Caesars. And a BIG opportunity to show we’re not just an outlier pizza company, but we deserve to be on the field.

The thing is, we weren’t the first pizza company to hold this title. Heck, we weren’t even the second. Both Papa John’s and Pizza Hut had previously been sponsors. And it’s not like Domino’s wasn’t advertising during games. All this meant two things: 1. We had to lean into our brand’s humor and to do this sponsorship in a way no other pizza brand could and 2. We had an uphill battle in getting people to associate us with football.

With those things in mind, we set off to sell pizza during the football season and get people to see our brand in a different way.

Open on a 90’s sitcom-inspired triptych of a dad, a Little Caesars pizza, and a young boy. We hear an upbeat sting and a live studio audience cheers.

SFX: Live Studio Audience Claps

SUPER: “The Talk”

The art card slides away to left revealing a father and son sitting on the couch with NFL team merchandise on. They’re having “the talk.” The dad has a slice of pizza and a football in his hands. It feels like a warm and fuzzy moment.

SON: Dad, where do sponsorships come from?

FATHER: You know son, when a pizza loves a football very much…

We see the son stare at his father in bewilderment.

SON: Uh huh.

We cut back to the dad who gestures the pizza and the football together. Things click for the son!

FATHER: …they become official. And that’s what happened when Little Caesars became the

official pizza sponsor of the NFL.

SON: Ohhhh.

We cut wide to reveal that Matthew Stafford, NFL quarterback, has been sitting next to them on the couch the entire time.

MATTHEW: So what do you say Timmy? Wanna take a bite out of that pizza in slo-mo?

SON: I sure do NFL quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Timmy takes a bite of the pizza in slow motion and we hear a live studio audience react.

SFX: Awww!

Cut to an end card featuring all of our game day food from Little Caesars.

VO: That’s right Timmy. Little Caesars is now the official pizza sponsor of the NFL.

Pizza! Pizza!

For parents and young Americans, “the talk” is one of the most memorable shared experiences. Parents struggle trying to put to words how to explain love to their kids. Because love, like sponsorships, can be messy and complicated we decided to have this “talk” with the entire country. Playing off the “birds and the bees” allowed us to create an instant connection in culture and more importantly in people’s personal lives. But don’t take it from us, take it from this guy on Twitter, “Bruh…did Little Caesars just teach kids about sex”.