Häagen-Dazs made its Super Bowl debut in February, enlisting the celebrities of the “Fast & Furious” franchise to decelerate and revel in some ice cream. The ad scored well via System1 testing while driving engagement and growth on social media, with the brand seeing an 11% year-over-year increase in views on Instagram and a 128% YoY jump in TikTok followers, in line with information shared with Marketing Dive.
While some Super Bowl ads make their mark on game night after which fade from memory, many brands are working to increase the shelf lifetime of these efforts, partially as a option to justify what are sometimes multimillion-dollar investments. Häagen-Dazs has done just that, using its Super Bowl ad to kick off a larger “Slow” brand platform that it has continued to iterate on in 2025 with a fully integrated campaign spanning TV, social, digital, influencer, out-of-home and sampling. “Slow” positions the 65-year-old brand as a balm for consumers searching for a moment for themselves amid continued sociopolitical tumult, economic uneasiness and global strife.
“Savoring a while to yourself does connect with the world that we all know consumers live in, where it’s just so fast, every thing’s changing — I can barely sustain with all of the trends on TikTok,” said Rachel Jaiven, head of promoting at Häagen-Dazs. “People feel over-programmed, and in case you’re not moving fast, you’re feeling such as you’re behind.”
Since constructing on the Super Bowl push with a campaign that launched in April, Häagen-Dazs has seen regular lifts in ad recall and consideration from the goal 25-34 yr old audience on YouTube, in addition to strong engagement across social platforms including Meta and TikTok. The brand believes its message is resonating at a deeper level as well.
“This moment to take care of yourself is something people really crave. Everyone needs more of this because ‘slow’ is something that folks must survive,” Jaiven said.
Diversity and influencers
To extend “Slow” beyond the Super Bowl spot, Häagen-Dazs has followed an industry-wide trend of accelerating investment in influencers who’re valued for authenticity and amplification.
“Every single yr, we at all times are very focused on finding great talent, diverse voices and people who find themselves really creative as a way for us to pick who is perhaps a great partner for us to get that message out in a way that’s authentic and fascinating,” Jaiven said.
Häagen-Dazs works closely with creative relations agency The Door and its team of influencers to find out the way to best showcase the brand and the “Slow” story in a way that reflects the passions and interests of creators. To that end, the brand introduced “Slow Sundays” content that integrates ice cream into peaceful weekend moments, an initiative supported on paid and organic channels.
Häagen-Dazs’ influencer push has long been tied to its programs around diversity. In 2023, it fulfilled a $1.5 million pledge to support underrepresented creators that it made two years prior, at the peak of brand interest in responding to calls for diversity, equity and inclusion which have since been widely rolled back as a result of conservative backlash. Despite the anti-DEI headwinds, Häagen-Dazs stays committed to such work.
“It’s really invaluable for the brand, and likewise reflects on the core what this brand began with, which was our founding story about two splendidly talented Polish immigrants who got here to the United States and had a dream to make an incredible ice cream,” Jaiven said. “We need to help take into consideration how these creators is perhaps doing the following thing to assist transform what someone might experience in the longer term.”
Along with its financial commitments and social placements, Häagen-Dazs in June expanded its partnership with Allies in Arts, a nonprofit focused on underrepresented creators, to show out-of-home placements into murals. The murals, made by three LGBTQ+ artists, ran in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco for two-month flights centered around Pride Month celebrations.
Agency partnerships
Häagen-Dazs’ marketing work starting with the Super Bowl has been made in partnership with indie shop Nice&Frank, which the brand appointed its creative agency of record in July of last yr. Founded in 2022, the upstart agency has also worked with Frito-Lay brand Doritos and health tech company Oura, and helps Häagen-Dazs show up in additional spaces and places.
“Since Häagen-Dazs is made to be savored with its unmatched smooth and creamy texture, we’re focused on highlighting those product truths by encouraging ice cream lovers to take a moment to pause the chaos of on a regular basis life with us and revel in a much-needed, sweet moment of peace,” said Erica Stevens, creative director at Nice&Frank, in emailed comments.
Along with Nice&Frank, Häagen-Dazs has collaborated closely with The Door and Spark Foundry for the last several years. Together, the brand and its agency team proceed to seek out unique ways to get the brand’s “Slow” message in front of consumers.
“We’ve seen some really strong results from campaigns,” Jaiven said. “We’ve seen some really great growth in a few of our key metrics with getting the appropriate creative on the market at the appropriate time to the buyer in very alternative ways which can be helping grow the brand.”
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