Kraft Mac & Cheese has kicked off a campaign that pitches the pantry staple because the “Best Thing Ever,” per details shared with Marketing Dive. The effort, which carries Kraft Mac & Cheese’s largest media investment to this point, comes because the packaged foods marketer faces challenges each from private label and premium upstarts. In response, “Best Thing Ever” looks to market Kraft Mac & Cheese as an experience and not only a product, in accordance with Cheryl Barbee, communications director for the brand at The Kraft Heinz Company.
“Kraft Mac & Cheese’s position as a beloved, familiar, and trusted brand doesn’t spare it from the challenges many heritage brands are facing,” Barbee said over email. “The key to maintaining our position because the #1 brand within the category is reinforcing our cultural relevance by emphasizing the beloved taste, value and convenience that only Kraft Mac & Cheese can deliver to remind consumers why the blue box has reigned supreme for nearly a century.”
New creative positions Kraft Mac & Cheese as higher and more dependable than many familiar consumer occasions. A pair of 15-second ads voiced by comedian John Mulaney pit the food against field goals and friends. In the latter spot, Mulaney says “we [meaning Kraft] don’t get harder to make in maturity.” An out-of-home ad in a movie show lobby maintains “Our endings are at all times satisfying” while one near an airport claims “you don’t need to arrive two hours early to enjoy this.”
“The comparisons are big, audacious claims that embed the brand naturally in moments where cultural moments, places, and conversations intersect,” Barbee said. “Media amplifies the approach, placing content where audiences are most engaged to land our message in essentially the most relevant way.”
“Best Thing Ever” includes greater than 70 distinct assets and uses a hypercontextual approach to capture the eye of a various consumer base by showing up in unexpected and disruptive ways. The campaign is running across TV, connected TV, YouTube, social and OOH channels.
An evolving landscape
“Best Thing Ever” represents a shift from the positioning Kraft Mac & Cheese has staked out lately. As consumers sought out comfort food through the height of the pandemic, Kraft in 2021 worked to destigmatize the notion of comfort with a “Help Yourself” campaign. The marketer in 2022 also rebranded, shortening its name from Kraft Macaroni & Cheese to Kraft Mac & Cheese and promoting the thought of “positive comfort.” The latest campaign looks to fulfill consumers who aren’t any longer in search of greater than just comfort from familiar brands, in addition to reposition the brand to higher compete with latest entrants within the category.
“Consumers also value small, on a regular basis moments of joy which might be shareable and culturally relevant. Comfort food isn’t any longer nearly nostalgia, but about delight and celebration in the current,” Barbee said. “The brand’s strategy reflects this shift. We looked back at our history to distill the values which have remained constant — taste, value and convenience.”
This is the primary campaign created for Kraft Mac & Cheese by Rethink, an independent creative agency that has worked extensively with parent Kraft Heinz on culture-hacking campaigns around ketchup. “Best Thing Ever” has social media support from The Kitchen North America, Kraft Heinz’s in-house shop, in addition to PR from Alison Brod Marketing + Communications and paid media from Carat.
“Kraft Mac & Cheese is ushering in a brand new brand tone and personality that reminds consumers of the enduring brand we’re,” Barbee said. “Rethink is thought for reimagining brands, and we wanted a partner who could tackle the ambitious task at hand — reinforce Kraft Mac & Cheese’s iconic heritage in a way that felt wholly unexpected and latest, but still felt authentic to our brand fans.”
Kraft Mac & Cheese’s campaign uses a hypercontextual approach to point out up in unexpected and disruptive ways.
Courtesy of Kraft Heinz
Kraft Mac & Cheese has spent 2025 focused on innovation, introducing five latest flavors and different product formats, including 11-ounce blue boxes and single-serving cups. The brand has seen a rise in each latest buyers and households, gains it attributed to the innovation strategy. “Best Thing Ever” looks to construct on that success, which has reached younger consumers on Instagram and TikTok.
“New flavors and formats give Kraft Mac & Cheese the chance to tap into social and cultural trends and think outside of the (blue) box to deliver for our existing brand fans, while also grabbing the eye of latest audiences,” Barbee said.
The campaign comes as Kraft Heinz continues to struggle with what CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera described as “one in every of the worst consumer sentiments” in a long time on a recent earnings call. The CPG giant is heading in the right direction to separate into two firms within the second half of 2026, with Kraft Mac & Cheese joining an organization focused on sauces, spreads, seasonings and shelf-stable meals alongside brands like Heinz and Philadelphia.
Read the complete article here
