Cheerios “Have a Change of Heart” campaign brings back heart shaped Cheerios with Phyllis Smith & Leslie David Baker.

Leslie David Baker is back with heart-shaped Honey-Nut Cheerios, and his former co-star and real-life bestie Phyllis Smith.

In the central spot created by ad agency Anomaly, “Genie,” Buzz the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee appears “like a genie” as the pair enjoys eating Honey Nut Cheerios together.
Phyllis asks Buzz if he grants wishes, begging to forget the vision of her neighbor in biking shorts. In return, Leslie deadpans: “I don’t think the bee can help you with that.”

These spots mark the first of a campaign that will span the entirety of 2023, with Cheerios continuing to roll out new creative that interweaves the same joyful humor between Leslie, Phyllis, and Buzz.

“Being on set with Phyllis felt like the good ol’ days — especially as we were able to get back to improv’ing as we used to do together – but this time with Buzz the Bee,” said Leslie David-Baker on his role in the campaign. “I’ve loved Cheerios since I was a kid, and now I realize that Cheerios not only tastes good but it’s good for me. It’s one part of my heart health commitment for my family, friends and fans.”

"Leslie is so thoughtful and a joy to be around, so being able to work with him again while also working with Cheerios—my favorite cereal since I was a child—was a win-win situation, especially for a topic like heart health,” said Phyllis Smith on reuniting with Leslie. “Monitoring and maintaining your heart health is so important for you and your loved ones.”

"It was amazing to bring Leslie back for his second year with our Cheerios Hearts campaign – but this time with his best friend Phyllis to help us showcase the importance of finding your ‘why’ with the relationships that matter the most to keep your heart health,” said Kathy Dixon, Senior Brand experience Manager for Cheerios. “As Leslie and Phyllis reminded us so well throughout this campaign, with a little laughter and a lot of love, a heart health journey can be fun.”

Meanwhile, in “Friendiversery,” Leslie pulls two boxes of heart-shaped Cheerios out of a bag. Phyllis exclaims, “you remembered!” To which, Leslie states: “Congratu-birthday-friend-aversary.”

"Congratu...Birthday...Friendiversary!"

The campaign launches today, February 6th, across broadcast, digital, radio, and social. The year-long rollout of additional work will look to spur conversations around heart health throughout 2023, while the brand brings back its heart-shaped Cheerios for a limited time only from now through March.

“We’re excited to partner with Cheerios to bring these iconic besties back onto people’s screens and into their homes, inspiring people across the country to keep each other accountable about heart health,” said Melissa Wood, Creative Director at Anomaly. “Through this campaign, we wanted to take a serious topic and approach it with a little humor: via two familiar faces and a brand Americans love.”

With more than 100 million Americans having some form of heart disease, Cheerios remains deeply committed to supporting a heart-healthy lifestyle year over year, and this year is no different. In honor of American Heart Month, America’s number-one cereal brand brings back happy-heart-shape Cheerios for the fourth consecutive year to inspire a joyful, heart-healthy lifestyle. Heart-shaped Cheerios are available across grocery stores in five delicious flavors (Honey Nut Cheerios, original yellow-box Cheerios, Chocolate, Strawberry Banana, and Honey Vanilla), with the brand encouraging people to buy two heart boxes: one for themselves and one for their bestie.

TEAM CREDITS

Agency: Anomaly

PR Agency: Edelman

Media Agency: Group M - Mindshare