AdMiration feature: BUBBA burger’s “You BUBBA Believe It: Security Cam”

For this week’s AdMiration feature, we looked at consumer response to BUBBA burger’s “Security Cam,” the latest spot in the brand’s “You BUBBA Believe It” platform. We tested the ad with US consumers to see how it landed.

Read on to get our 3-2-1 snapshot of the ad (3 facts, 2 learnings and 1 reflection) and learn how their ad was received based on our data.

The ad opens on grainy backyard security-camera footage, which immediately gives it the feel of a real-life, unexpected moment. A man is grilling BUBBA burgers on his deck with a family gathering set up next to him.

As the burgers cook, a white Yeti emerges from the trees and approaches the grill. The moment the man spots the creature, he panics and runs off, leaving the barbecue behind. The Yeti calmly walks over to the grill, looks around, picks up a freshly cooked BUBBA burger and takes a bite.

The footage freezes on the scene as the line “If you BUBBA, they will come” appears — a playful twist on the famous Field of Dreams quote. The ad then cuts to a clean end frame with the campaign line “You BUBBA Believe It” alongside the BUBBA burger logo.

3 facts

• The ad lands in the top 20% of US ads for its ability to drive short-term sales and scores in line with the norm for building brand equity over the long term (Sales Impact: 82; Brand Impact: 64).

• People really enjoyed this ad (Enjoyment: 4.1 vs 3.9 norm). Laughter is the dominant emotion at 29% (vs. 7% norm) — more than four times the average, while Love builds across the back half as the creature helps itself to the burger and the tagline lands.

• The spot has a strong Purchase Uplift of 34% (vs. 22% norm), with BUBBA moving from 5% preference before viewing to 39% after. 

2 learnings

• The unexpected grabs attention but you need to keep your brand front and center to the story. As described by the agency behind the campaign, products in BUBBA burger’s category are normally dominated by “very rational claims and a lot of stock photography.” BUBBA goes the other way. Instead of listing what makes the burger good, it builds the whole ad around a deadpan Yeti and a punchline, showing its quality rather than stating it. Doing something unexpected like this can be a great way to grab attention but it can also come with a trap: people can remember the joke and forget whose ad it was. BUBBA avoids that by keeping the brand front and center as the whole joke only works because the burger is good enough to lure the Yeti out of the woods. That choice makes the ad land emotionally and stay memorable as one viewer summed up: “Was a clever, humorous ad. Didn’t really tell specifics about the burger but you’ll remember the name and probably try them.”

• Mixing realism with the absurd can make an ad truly distinctive. By staging a mythical creature inside the frame of a backyard security camera, the ad makes an impossible premise feel plausible — convincing us this isn’t a polished commercial but footage of something that actually happened. That tension between the real-life framing and the one thing that couldn’t possibly be real is what makes people look twice (Ad Distinctiveness: 4.1 vs. 3.7 norm; Claimed Attention: 4.2 vs. 3.9 norm). As one viewer put it: “I liked how the man ran in fear. Bigfoot casually looking around and eating was different and unexpected.” 

1 reflection

Are you telling people your product tastes good, or building the anticipation of that first bite?

BUBBA’s real challenge with this campaign is convincing people that a convenient, freezer-to-grill burger can taste as good as the fresh ground beef they’d buy at the counter. The ad makes that point without ever saying it explicitly. 

Nothing about the taste of the burgers is being said, we just see them sizzling on the grill, smoke rising, an aroma so good it draws a Yeti out of the woods. Viewers can taste it with their eyes: 65% of people agree that Bubba has “great taste” and 42% agree it offers “premium quality,”, with people describing the burgers as “very juicy and delicious,” “appetizing” and “probably taste good” after watching the ad. The spot clearly builds a conviction about flavor through the senses. 

And when a creature that’s supposed to stay out of sight crosses a backyard for this burger, it makes the case for how good it tastes better than any claim could.

The question worth asking yourself is: are you telling people your product tastes great, or are you making them feel it? The most persuasive taste cues can be things like smoke, sizzle and someone (or something) who can’t resist.

“You BUBBA Believe It — Security Cam” is the latest ad in a platform that launched in April 2025, built by Familiar Creatures. BUBBA is the number one frozen burger brand in the US, but after decades as a grocery staple it had been losing share to private label and grocery-store ground beef, with brand loyalty beginning to thin. 

The strategic answer the agency landed on was to tell BUBBA’s quality story out loud for the first time — the fact that it’s made with 100% USDA Choice chuck beef and zero fillers, which the campaign positions as its key point of difference.

The platform dramatizes that quality through an irresistible comic device: BUBBA burgers are so good that even mythical creatures can’t quite believe they’re real. The launch film, “Unbelievable Lunch,” starred an alien and a yeti as roommates debating the strange fact that a frozen burger could be made with premium beef and no fillers. 

The category, as Familiar Creatures co-founder Dustin Artz put it, had been dominated by “very rational claims and a lot of stock photography,” so the agency went the other way with a dry, hyperbolic wit, shot using real actors rather than CGI. And it worked: within eight months of launch, BUBBA’s dollar share was up 3% year on year.

This spot is part of the platform’s summer 2026 extension — a series of social-first videos that bring the Yeti back for grilling season, aimed at backyard barbecue culture.

This is a strong ad from BUBBA burger reminding us that an ad relying on humor as its dominant emotion can be highly effective. In just 15 seconds, “You BUBBA Believe It: Security Cam” lands in the top 20% of US ads for its ability to drive short-term sales and scores in line with the norm for building brand equity over the long term (Sales Impact: 82; Brand Impact: 64).

A real strength of this ad is how distinctive it is and the tension it creates is very clever! The security-cam framing makes it feel like a real-life clip, but the deadpan Yeti is the one thing that can’t possibly be real, and that’s what makes you look twice. 

That’s why it stands out and grabs attention well above the norm (Ad Distinctiveness: 4.1 vs. 3.7 norm; Claimed Attention: 4.2 vs. 3.9 norm; Brand Distinctiveness: 3.9 vs. 3.7).

People also find this ad very enjoyable and funny. Laughter comes in at 29% (vs. 7% norm) and Enjoyment scores 4.1 (vs. 3.9 norm). 

The humor comes from the contrast: the Yeti helps itself to a burger very casually, while the man bolts in terror. Surprise spikes the instant the Yeti emerges from the trees, then gives way to laughter as it peaks mid-ad, at the moment the creature tucks in and the man flees.

Here’s what some of the respondents say about it:

• “I liked how the man ran in fear. Bigfoot casually looking around and eating was different and unexpected.”

• “I like that the monster came right up to the guy like no big deal and just scared the guy off and ate the burger. That was classic. Shows just how good this product really is.”

Love runs steadily throughout too, building across the back half when the Yeti grabs the burger and we see the tagline “If you BUBBA, they will come.”

The Yeti is the engine of all this emotion, and viewers also find him very charismatic (Character Appeal: 4.1 vs. 3.9 norm). But most importantly, the yeti is tied to the product, making the burger feel like something that can’t be resisted! As some viewers put it:

• “I thought the big foot creature was cute. It made me want to try Bubba.”

• “I like the idea that Bigfoot, who usually stays away from people, came out of the woods to see what the smell was. The aroma was pleasing even to Bigfoot in the woods.”

The whole ad is a demonstration of how irresistible the product is, which is why the message — that BUBBA burgers are so delicious no one can resist them — lands (Key Message Clarity: 4.4 vs. 4.2 norm). 

The backyard-grill setting gives the ad strong seasonal relevance as well, with viewers most associating BUBBA with being great for summer BBQs (66%). Taste and quality come through just as strongly with “great taste” at 65% and “premium quality” at 42% — no small feat given that this is a freezer-aisle product.

And that perception converts. The spot has a strong Purchase Uplift of 34% (vs. 22% norm), with BUBBA moving from 5% preference before viewing to 39% after.

What a clever, mouth-watering spot from BUBBA burger perfectly timed for grilling season! It shows how far humor, a little sizzle and one very hungry Yeti can carry a simple quality message. 

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