NBA legend Charles
Barkley joins exclusive roster of Ruffles® Chip Deal™
Athletes – LeBron James,
Jayson Tatum and A'ja Wilson – in a
new campaign and new Ruffles flavor
PLANO,
Texas, Feb. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Heading into
NBA All-Star 2023, Ruffles®, the Official Chip of the NBA and WNBA,
is bringing together innovative flavors, big personalities and even
bigger swagger in a new TV commercial starring NBA legend
Charles Barkley and has unveiled the
hoops icon as its honorary "Chip Deal Athlete" – joining current
Chip Deal Athletes LeBron James, Jayson
Tatum and A'ja Wilson, who are also featured in the
campaign.
To commemorate his honorary Chip
Deal, Barkley – a legendary personality who certainly has
his own flavor – requested Ruffles create a one-time only release
of his favorite culinary flavor: Hot Dogs. Ruffles® Hot
Dog-flavored potato chips will drop in highly limited quantities
during NBA All-Star Weekend.
"Just like the athletes and celebrities playing during NBA
All-Star 2023, Ruffles' Chip Deal Athletes are hand-selected based
on their skill, the flavor they bring to the table and their
undeniable swagger," said Barkley. "I'm thrilled to join this
all-star roster and Chip Deal
dynasty to bring my personal flavor and style to the brand."
The commercial, which will premiere during NBA All-Star 2023,
depicts Barkley selecting a Ruffles flavor at a vending machine as
James, Tatum and Wilson each come to life on their own Ruffles chip
bags and "full-court press" him to choose their respective
flavor.
"The launch of our new commercial, Charles's Chip Deal and our hot dog-flavored Ruffles were
all designed with the goal of bringing hoops culture to our fans in
an innovative way," said Stacy
Taffet, senior vice president of marketing, Frito-Lay North
America. "Ruffles is all about celebrating everyone's individual
style and flavor, and that's exactly what we're doing through this
campaign."
Bringing Ruffles to Salt Lake City
This weekend, Ruffles is transforming a local Salt Lake City fan-favorite hot dog restaurant
J.Dawgs into "Bark.Dawgs." Fans can stop by on Saturday, February 18 from 1-4 p.m. to enjoy Ruffles-inspired menu items,
see special Chip Deal Athlete guests, secure exclusive Ruffles x
Charles Barkley swag, play on custom
video game stations and listen to live music from a DJ booth. A
select number of fans who make it in line first will even get to
taste test Ruffles Hot Dog flavor.
2023 RUFFLES® NBA All-Star
Celebrity Game
Ruffles returns for its second year as the title partner of the
Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game. TV and film stars, musicians
and professional athletes including Simu Liu, 21 Savage,
Janelle Monae, Cordae, Hasan Minhaj, Albert
Pujols, DK Metcalf and Arike
Ogunbowale will take to the court led by team captains
Ryan Smith and Dwayne Wade, as well as head coaches Giannis
Antetokounmpo and Alex Bregman.
Adding to the hype, the Ruffles 4-point Ridge Line, a 4-point line resembling the ridges
in Ruffles potato chips, is back to support a good cause. For every
shot made from behind the line, Ruffles will donate $4,000 to support 5 for the Fight, a
philanthropic organization and official partner of the Utah Jazz
and owner Ryan Smith that crowdfunds
cancer research.
And, for the first time ever, Ruffles and the NBA are
introducing Ruffles Crunch Time – a unique in-game boost that each
team captain can activate once per half – causing every shot made
to be worth double the points and every 4-point Ridge Line shot to convert to double the
charitable contribution.
The 2023 Ruffles® NBA All-Star Celebrity Game will air
exclusively on ESPN at 7 p.m. ET on Friday,
February 17 from the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
Fans can follow Ruffles on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and
YouTube to keep up with everything the brand has in store all NBA
All-Star Weekend long.
About Ruffles
Ruffles is one of many Frito-Lay North America brands – the
$19 billion convenient foods division
of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP), which is headquartered in
Purchase, NY. Learn more about
Frito-Lay at the corporate website, http://www.fritolay.com/, the
Snack Chat blog, http://www.snacks.com/ and on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/fritolay.
About Frito-Lay North
America
Frito-Lay North America is the $19
billion convenient foods division of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:
PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase,
NY. Frito-Lay snacks include Lay's and Ruffles potato chips,
Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips and branded dips, Cheetos
snacks, Stacy's pita chips, PopCorners popped-corn snack, SunChips
multigrain snacks and Fritos corn chips. The company operates 30+
manufacturing facilities across the U.S. and Canada, more than 200 distribution centers and
services 315,000 retail customers per week through its
direct-store-delivery model. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the
corporate website, www.fritolay.com, on Twitter (@fritolay), on
Instagram (@fritolay) and on Facebook (Frito-Lay).
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion
times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the
world. PepsiCo generated more than $79 billion in net revenue in 2021, driven by a
complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes
Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew,
Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide
range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic
brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual
retail sales.
Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in
Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with PepsiCo Positive
(pep+). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts
sustainability and human capital at the center of how we will
create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries
and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more
information, visit www.pepsico.com.
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SOURCE Frito-Lay North America; PepsiCo