Ritz Returns to Super Bowl XLI for a Third Consecutive Year

Mondelēz will return Ritz to the Super Bowl for a third consecutive year in 2027, with Ritz Bits and Drizzled Minis starring in the commercial while the classic cracker stays on the sidelines.

Steven Saenen, Mondelēz’s category president for savory snacking, told ADWEEK that the objective is to maintain momentum, meaning stronger brand perception and market share, beginning in 2025, when the 90-year-old brand appeared in a Super Bowl advertisement for the first time. Super Bowl XLI, the 2027 game, extends that run.

Saenen said: “The brand is perceived as more modern, more fun than it was two years ago.” He also described Ritz’s market-share gains, the brand’s portion of category sales, as “pretty strong over the past two years.”

What Mondelēz has confirmed

• A third straight Super Bowl appearance for Ritz, in 2027.
• Ritz Bits and Drizzled Minis as the products set to star.
• The classic scalloped-edge cracker taking a back seat rather than leading the campaign.
• 2025 as the starting point for the momentum the company wants to sustain.
• Saenen’s two supporting arguments: a more modern, fun brand perception and strong share gains over two years.

The product change deserves attention because the brand is not leaving the game. Ritz keeps its Super Bowl presence, but the 2027 creative places two alternative formats at the center. A familiar name remains on the billboard. The original cracker no longer leads it.

Most campaign details remain close to the vest. The announcement does not disclose the creative concept, the broader product lineup, the agency, production plans, spending or media schedule. For a company using a Super Bowl ad to sustain momentum, those are material omissions, not minor ones.

The category context

Mondelēz has remained resilient despite headwinds facing the salty-snacks category, although the announcement gives no detail on the size or nature of those pressures. Saenen’s performance comments therefore carry more weight, but the disclosure supplies no sales figure or market-share percentage behind them.

The announcement also provides no definition of success: no sales target, share target or brand-perception benchmark appears in the disclosure. The stated goal is continuity with 2025. No quantified expansion accompanies it.

ADWEEK labels the report “Beta Generated by AI, reviewed by ADWEEK newsroom.” Readers should treat Saenen’s comments as company testimony, not independently verified evidence, until the underlying figures become available.

What does this change for Ritz?

For Ritz, the practical change is product-led: the brand remains in Super Bowl XLI, but Ritz Bits and Drizzled Minis carry the advertising while the classic cracker stays out of the lead role. The campaign must now show whether the “more modern, more fun” perception holds when the message centers on those products.

For Mondelēz, another Super Bowl appearance preserves a platform that supported two years of share gains, according to Saenen. The 2027 ad puts that claim on the line. If perception holds and share advances, the product strategy will have reinforced the broader brand’s momentum. If it does not, a third straight Super Bowl ad will not settle whether those gains were durable.

The brief is continuity.

The product mix changes.

The proof arrives later.