This week's Fun Friday starts off with a "Snacksercise Craze" the American Pecan Promotion Board (APPB) is debuting in a new retro-inspired campaign.

What happens when you combine '80s workout videos, healthy snacking and a dash of modern irony? The American Pecan Promotion Board (APPB), in collaboration with its marketing agency Signal Theory, created their latest campaign, "Snacksercise," which delivers a fresh take on New Year's wellness messaging by deliberately stepping away from the polished perfection of today's fitness content, APPB says.

The campaign features a spandex-clad instructor demonstrating pecan-themed workouts like "The Top Shelf Reach" and "Pecan Crunches," all presented in VHS-style footage that would make Richard Simmons and Suzanne Somers proud.

The spot will be available on premium CTV/OTT networks and streaming platforms, and apps such as ABC, Hulu, Food Network, and YouTube TV. The campaign also includes strategies for e-commerce, in-store activations, influencer marketing, social media promotion, digital marketing, and gym TV placements.

The countdown is on to snacking’s biggest day of the year—the Super Bowl—and Tostitos is giving consumers a taste of the celebration, including the chance to win an all-expenses paid trip to Super Bowl LIX, along with the honor of pressing the official NFL confetti button.

To start the party, fans must first stop the clock. Tostitos is teaming up with Reggie Bush to issue a nationwide challenge for fans to stop a countdown clock at exactly 5.90 seconds—a nod to 59 years of the Super Bowl—in order to unlock the sweepstakes page to officially enter. The ultimate winner will use their button-pressing skills to trigger the epic moment of show-stopping, joy-filled celebration for the winning team and fans.

Consumers can test their reaction time for the chance to enter the sweepstakes by visiting TasteOfSuperBowl.com or scanning the QR code on the back of specially marked Frito-Lay snacks (Tostitos, Cheetos, Doritos, and Lay’s) to stop the clock virtually. Stopping the clock at exactly 5.90 seconds unlocks the sweepstakes page to officially enter.

Fans can also try to stop the clock IRL. At select grocery stores, interactive pop-ups featuring countdown clock buttons will let fans try their hand at competitive button pushing now until January 27. 

Old World Christmas, purveyor of Christmas ornaments, has announced multiple new licensing partnerships for the creation of hand-blown glass ornaments. Big League Chew, The Lumistella Company, Mondelēz, Penguin Young Readers, Pink Floyd, Richard Scarry’s Busy World, The Beach Boys, and The Who will each have a line of delicately hand-painted, hand-glittered ornaments created to capture the spirit of the brands to be released later this year. 

Mondelēz will include a line of six ornaments featuring Oreo, Chips Ahoy!, Sour Patch Kids, and Swedish Fish. Big League Chew is the classic bubble gum loved by everyone from little leaguers to major league players. Relive those sporting years on the tree this year.

Once released, all newly licensed ornaments will be available at oldworldchristmas.com or in retail stores across the U.S.

Aldi has released its first-ever Price Leadership Report, proving the savings it delivers for shoppers nationwide. The report confirms Aldi offers the lowest prices of any national grocery store and saves shoppers $8.3 billion per year, making it clear why 25% of U.S. households now shop Aldi. 

The report confirms shoppers have increasingly turned to Aldi to fill their carts as years of inflation have continued pressuring consumers’ wallets. An analysis conducted by Ernst & Young Quantitative Economics and Statistics Group (QUEST) also revealed that the rapid ALDI U.S. expansion, which added 120 stores in 2024 alone, created thousands of new jobs and fueled local economies. Other highlights include: 

With 2025 in full swing, consumers are focused on foods that improve their health without compromising flavor and innovation possibilities, says the Almond Board of California. With over 14 different forms, almonds can give product developers the confidence they need to tackle wellness, flavor, and innovation trends in 2025 and beyond. Read below to find out what the Almond Board of California, using insights from Innova Market Insights and Tastewise, predicts for almonds in 2025.

1. Best of Both Worlds: Consumer preferences for new products vary widely, with a strong preference for old/traditional flavors (64%) alongside a significant interest in the “wow” effect from crazy and indulgent creations (43%). Finding a new way to merge these desires will pave the way for inventive product mash-ups. The fastest-growing almond ingredients between 2019-2024 were almond protein powder and almond paste.  

Liz Parker Kuhn is the senior editor of Candy Industry and Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery, and has worked at BNP Media since 2012. She has written for CBS Detroit as well as for her own blogs. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan. Liz can be contacted at (248) 839-7156 or at [email protected].