CLIO Sports

Tori Spelling, Kristin Cavallari Hit the Beach for Kind Snacks

Nostalgia play targets millennials

Tori Spelling ditches her stabby letter opener and unwinds at the beach with Kristin Cavallari in a pleasingly self-aware turn for Kind Bars.

Spelling’s antics and travails are getting lots of media play these days, so interest in this back-to-school campaign is running high.

Here, the former Beverly Hills, 90210 star seems to enjoy sending up her flaky persona. Touches like a graduation cap and CGI eye-twinkle are worth the price of admission.

Cavallari rocks, too, at one point taking a wicked frisbee shot to the face. This naturally triggers a flashback, complete with auto-tuned ambiance. Later, in a nod to her role on Laguna Beach, she moans “The car is dunzo!” when her engine overheats.

This approach works because the talent are so clearly in on the joke. They’re moms now, pining for their carefree past, much like a significant portion of the target audience. This makes the pitch feel fun and relatable. Smart, Tori. You go to the head of the class.

“Parents tell us all the time how stressful the back-to-school season is,” says Kind CMO Osher Hoberman. “Finding a school-friendly snack kids love, and that parents feel good about packing in their kids’ lunchboxes, should not be hard.”

With that in mind, the brand hopes its new Kind Kid bars “make back-to-school season and all future snack planning easier—not to mention more delicious and nutritious.”

Chess Club Films’ Alex Gorosh directs with a deft comic touch.

As for that scene with Cavallari in an uncooperative Isuzu truck, “Kristin hadn’t recreated the moment for her TikTok yet, so it was great to go down memory lane,” Kind senior director of integrated communications Suejin Kim tells Muse.

She promises behind-the-scenes footage soon. So we’re not dunzo after all.

Other rad millennial plays in a similar vein include a return to The O.C. with 21Seeds (and Rachel Bilson!), along with various ads from Paris Hilton, who always brings the sardonic hotness.

CLIO Sports