Working on a promotional campaign with what promises to be one of the biggest movies this year would be quite a coup for just about any CPG brand. For Archer Meat Snacks, how it landed the tie-in with Disney’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” adds to the accomplishment.
As part of its partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Archer advertises at the MLB team’s games. Someone from Disney saw an ad while at the stadium and, according to Andrew Thomas, Senior VP of Marketing at Archer, “figured, ‘If you’re a Dodgers partner, you must have arrived as a brand.’”
Disney reached out to the meat jerky company in September 2025. “We were looking for a tentpole for 2026. To have this in a way fall in our laps is really important to us,” Thomas says. “Everyone asks how we measure the effectiveness of the Dodgers partnership, and this is the first example I give.”
From Freeways to the Red Carpet
Unveiled April 13, the campaign will be rolling out multiple components in the run-up to the movie’s May 22 debut. Three bestselling Archer products — Original Beef Mini Sticks, Original Turkey Mini Sticks and Full-Size Classic Beef Sticks — have been repackaged to feature the film’s title characters. Archer chose the two mini sticks because, like the Star Wars universe, they appeal largely to families.
Disney brought with it what Thomas calls “a really strong commercial play”: $10 off the price of tickets from Fandango with the purchase of $25 worth of qualifying Archer items. The packaging and in-store displays will include a QR code that links to the offer. “We’re hoping this will juice our [retail] velocity,” Thomas says.
Archer also produced a 30-second spot featuring snippets from the film and a voice-over noting how “saving the galaxy takes real teamwork, real courage and plenty of snacks.” The ad will air on Disney+, in theaters, across Spectrum Reach’s premium ad inventory during sports playoffs, and on social media. Elements of the ad will be repurposed as paid media primarily on Meta and TikTok, though the passionate Star Wars fanbase on Reddit will be targeted as well.
Social platforms will also promote a sweepstakes for the chance to win two tickets to the film’s premiere in L.A., along with a travel voucher. The Airstream trailer Archer uses for activations at weekend soccer tournaments will be at the premiere as well, reskinned to resemble a spacecraft from the film and manned with people giving out swag and samples. Amplifying the event for Archer will be influencer Whitney Port, who has 1.4 million followers on Instagram. In addition, digital billboards near LAX and L.A.’s 110 freeway and in Times Square will go live May 11.
Following Disney’s Creative Lead
Archer embarked on a major creative and marketing overhaul last year for which brand awareness was a primary goal. While the company certainly hopes to continue building awareness with this partnership, Thomas says increased retail sales is the primary objective. Syndicated data providers will help them track sales and repeat purchase rates, while they’ll continue to use Tracksuit brand health tracker to gauge brand awareness.
Although Archer could have used the same agency that helmed its redesign last year to work on the promotion’s assets, the company took up Disney’s offer of their own team. “I was afraid there would be too much back and forth, so it was easier to have them lead the creative,” Thomas says.
Fortunately many elements of the recent rebranding, such as the bright orange signature color, easily complemented the Disney assets. Archer was also able to easily adapt its tagline, “Real ingredients. Unreal flavor,” to fit within the Star Wars universe, tweaking it to “Real protein. A galaxy of flavor.”
Thomas praises Disney for being “wonderful partners. They were very up front with us about the constraints and the guardrails. They, understandably, want to make sure they’re protecting that brand as much as they can.” At the same time, he says, they made clear that “you’re helping us promote the film, but you’re also promoting your brand.”
