Fast and Furious Star Ludacris Partners With Jif for New Campaign

Last year saw Jif attempting to settle the debate about how to pronounce GIF, an argument everyone had passionate perspectives about, with one of their major campaigns this year seeing them partner with Fast and Furious star and hip hop icon Ludacris. While the rapper’s career spans decades, one more recent trend in the music genre is a rapping style that some listeners equate to the sound of someone with a mouthful of peanut butter. In the above commercial, you can see the effects of Ludacris fulfilling his desire for Jif and the unintended and impressive results of that craving.

“We do a ton of social listening for Jif, always keeping an ear out for opportunities. That’s how the team stumbled upon the link between hip-hop’s newer flows and peanut butter,” Erica Roberts, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis NY, shared in a statement. “With a little digging, it was clear that the comments stemmed from differing stylistic opinions. So we set out to unite the two sides with the help of heaping spoonfuls of Jif peanut butter and some of the biggest names in hip-hop.”

Per press release, “The Lil Jif Project is the latest installment of the That Jif’ing Good campaign, celebrating the great lengths peanut butter lovers will go to for the irresistible taste of Jif peanut butter. In this creative activation, The Lil Jif Project strives to open everyone’s minds (and mouths) to hip hop’s newer style of flow. However, the brand knew it couldn’t take this task on alone, so Jif enlisted one of the greatest lyrical rappers of all time – Ludacris, and paired him with Gunna, one of today’s hottest rappers – bringing the two styles together to create something entirely fresh and new.

“On Friday, as part of the Lil Jif Project, Ludacris dropped new music– ‘Butter.ATL.’ Many stealthy music connoisseurs noticed a decidedly new flow from this iconic artist, which came courtesy of a mouthful of Jif peanut butter and inspiration from Gunna, himself. A new spot debuting today on TV and online, chronicles the story of how Ludacris can’t stop eating his beloved Jif peanut butter – even while in studio, during a recording session – and the amazing new flow he created that sounds right at home with the rappers of today. With a cameo by Gunna, and helmed by award-winning music video director, Dave Meyers, this film celebrates the magic of this irresistible musical collaboration.

“We are honored that both Ludacris and Gunna chose to collaborate with us to prove our theory correct,” said Rebecca Scheidler, Vice President of Marketing, Jif. “We think ‘Butter.ATL‘ is proof positive that everything is better with Jif peanut butter.”

“Those who know me know I am a die-hard peanut butter lover – I even have it on my rider! The opportunity to bring together two things I love – Jif peanut butter and hip hop music – was a creative challenge I just couldn’t pass up,” said Ludacris. “I’ve been anticipating getting back into the studio for a while now and I saw this as a cool way to merge the best of my roots, inspired by the amazing sounds from artists like Gunna, to see what new-to-the-world magic I could create.”

“This project was an incredible collaboration; it bonded two rappers by their shared love of an iconic brand,” said Bettie Levy, Founder & CEO of BCL Entertainment, the Talent Producer for this commercial and campaign. “Ludacris contributed thoughtfully every step of the way to assure the creative was effective and current; this commercial and campaign would not have been possible without his genius, period. As for Gunna, his willingness to dive head-first into the idea was critical as well… and having a director like Dave Meyers and an agency like Publicis NY craft this unique and bold concept shows its creative excellence.”

As part of the campaign, Jif has also donated to Ludacris’ charity of choice, Boys and Girls Club, and also crafted two 37-carat diamond and ruby Jif jar necklace; one for Ludacris and one that will be revealed by Jif at a later date.

What do you think of the campaign? Let us know in the comments below!