- Lay's has officially unveiled its fourth-year "No Lay's, No Game" campaign for FIFA World Cup 2026, rolling out across nearly 90 markets globally, marking the brand's first-ever FIFA World Cup sponsorship.
- The campaign's centerpiece is a star-studded "Epic Watch Party" ad featuring Lionel Messi, Sir David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Alexia Putellas, and Steve Carell, surprising shoppers at a supermarket and inviting them to watch football together.
- An Epic Watch Party WhatsApp Channel, featuring live reactions and behind-the-scenes content from all five stars throughout the tournament, has already amassed over 10 million followers, one of Lay's largest-ever social activations.
- A second, U.S.-exclusive campaign called "Bandwagon" launches in May 2026, designed to welcome casual and new soccer fans with a fun, judgement-free tone ahead of the North American-hosted World Cup.
Lay’s, the PepsiCo-owned snack brand and Official Sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026, has launched two major marketing campaigns ahead of the tournament’s return to North America for the first time since 1994.
Now in its fourth year, “No Lay’s, No Game” reaches its biggest deployment yet, uniting Lionel Messi, Sir David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Alexia Putellas, and Steve Carell in an “Epic Watch Party” ad that surprises real supermarket shoppers and invites them to watch football together. The crew ultimately chose Beckham to host, but only if everyone brought a bag of Lay’s to get in.
Messi’s relationship with Lay’s stretches back to early 2014, when PepsiCo first launched a major global campaign featuring the Argentine legend.
Off-campaign, Messi recently inked endorsement deals with Beats By Dre and Stanley, while he led Inter Miami to their first-ever MLS Cup title in 2025, winning back-to-back league MVP honors, and scored his 900th career goal in March 2026. Just this week, he also joined Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappé, and Vinicius in the LEGO FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign.
Beckham’s relationship with Lay’s dates back to the 2024 campaign, with his most recent brand wins including SharkNinja and Stella Artois, deals that helped his holding company post $92.3 million in annual revenue. He also starred alongside Mohamed Salah and Alexia Putellas in a global Pepsi campaign.
Alongside the global platform, Lay’s is launching “Bandwagon,” a new U.S.-specific campaign flipping the “bandwagon fan” narrative from negative to welcoming, designed for those new to soccer without judgment.
Beyond the ad, Lay’s will also roll out its “Lay’s RePlay” program, transforming used chip bags into sustainable football pitches worldwide, with 12 community pitches already opened across 11 countries since 2021.
Takeaways
This campaign is a masterclass in sports marketing timing. With the FIFA World Cup landing on American soil for the first time in 32 years, Lay’s is making its boldest move yet, and they’re not just buying celebrity faces, they’re buying cultural bridges.
Messi connects Latin America and the die-hard global football community. Beckham bridges football’s European heritage with American pop culture. Henry brings French football credibility, while Putellas signals that women’s football is no longer an afterthought in major brand campaigns. And Steve Carell is the wildcard, the everyday American fan who doesn’t know the offside rule but showed up anyway.
The WhatsApp channel cracking 10 million followers before the tournament even kicks off tells you everything about where this campaign is headed.
With Lay’s pulling off the biggest snack brand campaign in World Cup history, how much pressure does this put on rivals like Pringles and Doritos to respond? Is the “Bandwagon” campaign a smart, inclusive move or does it risk alienating hardcore football fans who pride themselves on long-term loyalty to the sport?
