Peeps doesn’t just want to be your grandma’s candy.
The company behind the iconic marshmallow chicks, Just Born Quality Confections, is launching its first digital marketing campaign Tuesday to attract millennial moms. The ad campaign will launch across YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, according to The New York Post.
“It will expand our reach to more Millennials who are not buying Peeps as much as our older consumers,” Noelle Porcoro, senior brand manager at the family-run company told Coins2Day. She says the campaign isn’t a response to any decline in sales, but rather an attempt to raise anticipation in advance of Easter, when the brand sees its most business. “Our sales have been steady and in line with the category growth over the past five years,” Porcoro said. Currently, only 60% of Peeps that are bought are actually consumed—the rest are used for decoration.
The Peeps ad campaign shows an election between Peeps and a groundhog to determine who is the true symbol of spring. Of course, Peeps chicks are found to be the winner.
In 2014, Peeps launched a year-round version of the marshmallow candy to buoy sales after Easter. About three-quarters of the two million Peeps made each year are sold around the holiday, according to Bloomberg.