The Heartland America Super Bowl Ad That Tugged at My Heart Strings

Because nothings says Racial Equity like...potatoes

As I watched all of the Super Bowl commercials, I was specifically interested in who leaned into Black culture and who leaned out. There’s one ad that piqued my interest, but for a reason you might not expect. It was very Heartland America, and there’s been a lot of contention around DEI and heartland brands, but something caught my eye at the end — the ad was from Lay’s, a division of PepsiCo.

With the state of America and “heartland companies” like John Deere, Brown-Forman (Jack Daniels), and Harley Davidson backing out of DEI, it feels like Black Americans are being excluded from the heartland story.

While the focus of this commercial was a white family, I caught this frame at the end.

I wanted to know more about these Black farmers and if they were really in Lay’s supply chain or just being used for ad diversity.

Side Note: Around 1920, there were over 925,000 Black-owned farms, but according to the US Department of Agriculture, in 2022, Black farmers “accounted for 1.4% of the country’s 3.4 million producers.” I know how this happened, but that story is for another day.

Back to the Lay’s ad — in looking deeper at the screen shot, there’s a URL: laysfarmtosmiles.com.

Lay’s Farm To Smiles website homepage

When you visit the site, it showcases Lay’s process, from growing potatoes to eating chips. But as I scrolled I was met with more of the story I was looking for.

Lay’s Farm To Smiles website homepage

Meet the Singletons — Farming since 1979 and in contract with Frito-Lay since 1981.

Lay’s also has what I believe to be an interactive map on their site, although it isn’t working for me. I’d love to explore it and see if there are more Black-owned farms like the Singletons’ in Lay’s supply chain.

And as a button to this whole campaign, the PepsiCo Foundation is giving $1 Million to the Farm Foundation to support future farmers and agricultural leaders. Farm Foundation's vision is to build a future for farmers, our communities, and our world.

In my opinion (as a marketer), this is the future of what navigating DEI looks like— it’s diverse, equitable, and impactful, while still connecting to the bottom line.

This is the future of what cultural marketing looks like — supply chain inclusion is one of the most authentic forms of storytelling a brand can do, while still aligning directly with their core business strategy.

We need MORE of this type of economic inclusion and more of these stories!

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A look back at PepsiCo’s Black Dollar Index Data:

For more info on PepsiCo, check out BDI’s Black Equity Guide:

Be informed.

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