Pearlfisher gave Pirate's Booty's Captain Bob a facelift for the Gen Alpha aisle

A corn puff snack that has been ubiquitous in American kids' diets for decades needed to catch both kids' and parents' eyes, introduce the brand to Gen Alpha, and reassert itself as better-for-you in the chip aisle.

Pearlfisher — fresh off rebranding sister brand SkinnyPop for the same owner — overhauled the packaging with a new colour palette, simplified text and an entirely different wordmark, freeing Captain Bob and Crunchy as flexible mascots; inside the bag the recipe gained an extra dose of cheese. The rollout began on shelves in early June 2026, nationwide within a week.

New packaging rolled out nationwide within a week of launch, anchoring Hershey's first major investment in years: new partnerships, product innovations and activations in real life and on social media. No sales figures yet.

Pirate's Booty, the corn puff snack that has been a staple of American kids' diets since entrepreneur Robert Ehrlich created it in 1987 as a healthier alternative made with real cheddar, received a full rebrand in June 2026 — and it was real enough that fans were doing double takes in grocery aisles.

The overhaul by creative agency Pearlfisher — fresh off rebranding SkinnyPop, which along with Pirate's Booty is a subsidiary of The Hershey Co. — features a new colour palette, simplified text, an entirely different wordmark and a significantly facelifted pirate. The goal, per Hershey's Eric Bowers, VP of marketing for Salty Snacks: unshackle Captain Bob and his parrot sidekick Crunchy from the constraints of the previous branding to serve as flexible, socials-ready mascots for a new generation of Gen Alpha customers.

The timing is strategic. Cheddar cheese is still the fourth ingredient on a relatively short label with no artificial flavours — attributes that have become built-in advantages as wellness culture and a federal push against artificial dyes push PepsiCo, Welch's and Kraft Heinz to reformulate, and as Lay's and Tostitos launch ingredient-forward rebrands of their own. Inside the bag, Pirate's Booty tweaked its recipe with an extra dose of cheese; outside, the rebrand anchors Hershey's first major marketing investment in the brand in several years.

The mascot liberation is the strategy: Captain Bob and Crunchy were redesigned as flexible assets for social and activations, not just a static pack shot.

Brand and product changed together — the cheesier recipe ships with the new look, so the promise on the pack is verifiable in the bag.

The rebrand rides a documented macro wave (artificial-dye crackdown, Lay's and Tostitos rebrands) rather than inventing a claim ahead of the market.

Pearlfisher's consecutive Hershey salty-snacks projects (SkinnyPop, then Pirate's Booty) show a portfolio-level design strategy across sibling brands.

When regulation and wellness culture turn your old 'healthy-ish' quirks into category advantages, the brand refresh should free the mascots, not just modernise the type.

The rebrand began rolling out on shelves in early June 2026 with nationwide distribution within a week; Fast Company reported it as the opening move of Hershey's renewed investment, with partnerships and activations to follow.