Mentos hands its '90s Freshmaker jingle to Gen Z creators — and wins at One Show

The 'Freshmaker' jingle first aired in 1990 and became one of advertising's most famous earworms — so well known that Clueless, Entourage and the Foo Fighters all parodied it. Thirty-five years later, the parents who grew up singing it were buying the mints, but Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who discover brands through creators rather than television, had never met the tune.

Mentos (Perfetti Van Melle) treated the anniversary as a translation job, not a nostalgia replay. On April 1, 2025 the jingle relaunched across social, iHeart Radio and YouTube Music with new versions from creators Adam Waheed, That's a Bad Idea and Aubrey Gavello, and more renditions followed through the summer from Carter Vail and Kyle Gordon. On May 1, the polished 'Re-Freshmaker' series from Highdive landed: nine videos in which Vail sings about texting an ex 'You up?', getting the ick from a weird spoon grip, and watching a steamy movie with your mom.

Highdive kept the original melody intact and rewrote only the stories. SNL veteran Hannah Levy of Tool directed, and the films mixed live performance with stock and AI-generated background images to feel native to vertical social feeds. The creators acted as cultural translators, making the campaign land as entertainment first and advertising second.

Over three months the work produced 39.9 million impressions, 166.8% of projected reach, and 7.2 million engagements, with organic engagement at 5.15% — more than 60% above the benchmark — and a 4.7% lift in purchase intention. It won a Bronze Pencil at the One Show 2026 for Social Media: Craft/Use of Humor and was a finalist in the brand-awareness category at the 18th Shorty Awards.