As a comedian, actor and show host, Joel McHale’s mouth already gets quite the workout.
But in the latest ad for Snickers’ Hi Protein bar, audiences get to witness the insane rigors he goes through to optimize his eating game.
In the entertainingly silly “Tastebud Training,” McHale and his physically jacked and tatted “tastebud trainer,” Spencer Rich, take us through an epic workout of “face flexes and lip trills” designed to “strengthen, stretch and tone the tastebuds to maximize flavor receptor gains.”
“No more skipping mouth day, America!” says McHale, as he benches a tiny barbell pursed between his lips.
Following his intense set—complete with “mouth sweat,” unnecessary whistle-blowing and excruciating commands like “more with the jaw”—an endorphin-filled McHale is finally rewarded with his high-protein payoff, prompting him to declare: “Let’s put the ‘Mmmmm’ back in muscles!”
“As a Snickers fan and someone who regularly goes to the gym and wears T-shirts two sizes too small, partnering with the brand and their new protein bar to work out my tastebuds and deltoids was a perfect match,” McHale said in a statement. “Being an actor and comedian, my mouth is one of my most important assets, but my tastebuds have been seriously overlooked for too long. Thanks to Snickers Hi Protein and the brand’s Tastebud Training program, that changes now.”
The brand is also inviting fans to participate in the program—which it states is “not backed by science, but backed by Joel McHale”—with an online sweepstakes running through Dec. 13. The prize is a solo training session with McHale and free Hi Protein bars.
The Mars Wrigley brand entered the performance nutrition category last year with the Hi Protein bar.
CREDITS
Production: Tessa Films
Director: Melissa Silverman
Executive producer: Lisa Masseur
Line producer: Emma Jubinski
Agency: Weber Shandwick
