Candy maker Bazooka has launched a social-first, multibrand campaign that puts two mom influencers in direct competition. It is called "The Great Candy Battle: MomTok Edition," and it is a clean example of branded media displacing conventional advertising.
Jessi Draper and Mayci Neeley, stars of the Hulu reality series "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," each promote different brands in Bazooka's portfolio. Draper takes Ring Pop and Push Pop; Neeley pushes Juicy Drop and Baby Bottle Pop.
Whoever drives the bigger August sales lift wins a donation to the charity of their choice — though Bazooka intends to donate to both regardless of outcome. The rivalry is a narrative device, not an actual win condition.
The effort runs offline too. It kicked off in early August in New York with three on-premise activations, with both influencers sampling products near campaign billboards in Times Square. Draper rode the subway with Pushy, the Push Pop mascot, running interviews and a flavor-guessing challenge; Neeley hosted a nightlife-themed Baby Bottle Pop experience in Union Square. Select retail stores and a Salt Lake City pop-up follow later in the month.
"By handing the mic to Jessi and Mayci, two of the biggest breakout personalities and candy lovers to come out of MomTok, Bazooka Brands is proving that authentic, creator-fueled competition travels further than any traditional ad campaign," said Dave Dreyer, CMO of Bazooka Brands.
The underlying shift is in how attention gets won. Short-form ads are easy to skip. Branded media — films, social series — presents the brand in a format viewers actually choose. Bazooka's series deliberately straddles the blurred line between social and TV stardom, reaching both the creator audience looking for mom tips and the reality audience looking for rivalry.
The pattern of brand message becoming content and content becoming fandom recurred throughout MAX SUMMIT 2026 sessions, and Disney opening its IP to TikTok creators sits in the same category.
MomTok is enormous — 11.7 million videos on TikTok alone — and went mainstream with the 2024 premiere of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives." The controversy came with it.
Cast member Taylor Frankie Paul was set to star in ABC's March 2026 season of "The Bachelorette," but the season was cancelled after a video of a violent argument between her and her then-boyfriend went viral. MomTok and family vlogging more broadly have drawn criticism over child safety and exploitation, privacy, and the lack of legal protection for minors featured in the content.
That is the operational lesson. Borrowing a subculture's attention means borrowing its risk. Scenario-plan not just for an individual creator's issues but for the reputational exposure of the entire genre.
Dreyer was appointed CMO in December, previously serving as top marketing executive at Starco Brands, as the candy maker works to increase cultural relevance for long-term growth.
"Make something people want to watch, not an ad" is old advice. What is new is that the format now borrows a rivalry narrative — and everything else attached to the culture it borrows from.
A social-first multibrand campaign where reality TV stars Jessi Draper and Mayci Neeley each promote different Bazooka brands in a month-long competition.
A donation to the charity of their choice based on August sales lift — though Bazooka plans to donate to both regardless of the result.
It presents the brand inside content viewers actively choose to watch, rather than short-form ads many ignore. The tradeoff is longer production and heavier risk management.
The genre has drawn sustained criticism over child safety and exploitation, privacy, and the absence of legal protections for minors in the content. Brands should assess genre-level reputational risk, not just individual creators.
To apply what you just read to your own site, start with a free audit of where things are now.
A strategist replies within 24 hours on business days.
Adobe surveyed 850 U.S. small business owners. 79% said a clear point of view is what makes people follow them, while 63% second-guess their own design and content decisions.
Andrew Rebhun joins Panera Bread as CMO on August 17, overseeing brand, digital, loyalty and media as the chain continues its RISE transformation strategy.
Cuisinart's first social-native episodic campaign runs 14 non-linear episodes across TikTok, Reels and Shorts. Here is why order-independent storytelling wins in algorithmic feeds.