Diamond Foods Plans 'Huge Splash' for the Super Bowl

January 21st, 2010

San Francisco, January 21, 2010 -- Diamond Foods Inc. will unveil a new, groundbreaking commercial featuring two of its snack food brands -- Pop Secret Popcorn and Emerald Nuts -- during CBS's coverage of Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, Florida on February 7, 2010.

Diamond Foods will be making a splash with its ad featuring the World's Most Flamboyant dolphin trainer standing on top of a volcano in the middle of a marine theme park. The commercial begins with the trainer whipping the crowd into a frenzy screaming "Let's Get Aquatic!" The ad ends with the phrase "Awesome + Awesome = Awesomer." How this relates to popcorn and snack nuts will be revealed during the second half of the game.

"We have used Super Bowl advertising very effectively over the years to drive broad awareness and growth of our Emerald brand," said Diamond President and Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Mendes. "This year, we are leveraging our Super Bowl investment featuring both Pop Secret Popcorn and Emerald Nuts in one ad. This reinforces the fact that Diamond has two contemporary snack food brands in its portfolio well-positioned to serve a similar consumer demographic."

Diamond is no stranger to making memorable ads that positively impact sales having produced award winning ads that aired during Super Bowls in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In each year, the Company experienced high double digit growth in sales following those games as it built the Emerald snack food brand that it launched in 2004. This year, Diamond is sprinkling its magic on Pop Secret Popcorn, the brand it purchased in 2008 and took full control of in February 2009.

Working with San Francisco based advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Diamond has achieved a first in Super Bowl advertising featuring two distinct brands side by side in one commercial.

"We have raised the bar for ourselves and really pushed the envelope to create a unique commercial," said Andrew Burke, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Diamond Foods. "We are excited with the results and believe we have a memorable spot that will connect with our target audience and dramatically increase our off shelf promotional displays."

Popcorn and snack nuts are a staple at Super Bowl parties. According to a study by The Integer Group, over 6 million pounds of popcorn and snack nuts will be consumed on Super Bowl Sunday.

Diamond will be supporting the television ad with a robust marketing campaign that includes print and online advertising. The Company will run a print advertisement in USA Today and online ads the week before the Super Bowl on the websites of USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. After the Super Bowl, the Company will utilize search advertising via Google and YouTube to drive consumers to its branded websites.

Since the middle of December 2009, Diamond has been reinvigorating the Pop Secret brand with its recently launched kernel campaign featuring animated kernel characters that are passionate movie lovers actively watching popular scenes from classic movies. Andy Allcock, Pop Secret Brand Manager added, "We have been receiving very positive responses to the ads. Consumers love them." The Company has aired over 600 spots during the campaign.

Emerald snack nuts are the fastest growing brand in the snack nut category and have grown sales dollars almost 50% over the previous year.