Ludacris Partners With Jif Peanut Butter, Debuts New Music
Symmetrically cut twin, streak sideburns, 2000-2004 braids, arms reminiscent of his “Get Back” days — I think it’s safe to say Ludacris is back.
The “Fast and the Furious'' actor's vintage look can be seen in the latest creative ad where he has partnered with Jif Peanut Butter for “That Jif’ing Good'' campaign which premiered on Monday (Aug 16).
Titled “The Return”, Luda struggles to unlock a new flow, to which he finds only a spoonful of peanut butter helps him master. He then brings the jar everywhere, even recruiting fellow Atlanta rapper, Gunna, for a feature, who, of course, is addicted to peanut butter as well.
The ad ends with Luda frightfully realizing he’s run out of peanut butter right before performing for a packed festival audience. Luckily Gunna has his back ready to hook him up with a fresh serving, which he gives to the Grammy-award-winning artist before they both rock the stage.
The Dave Meyers-directed video (the mastermind behind some of the visuals for Missy Elliot, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, Anderson .Paak, etc.) follows last year's viral gif/Jif debate — which culminated in the two releasing a special jar of Jif peanut butter that replaces their classic Jif branding with “Gif” — and their 2019 “Jif Bunker” spot, that made Adweek’s annual end-of-the-year 25 best ads list that year.
Additionally, the partnership between Jif and Ludacris signifies the 43-year-old’s return to hip-hop after spending significant time getting his acting on in Hollywood. The commercial also uses his newest single, "Butter.ATL”, which was released last week (Aug. 12), prior to the debut of the ad.
RELATED: Ludacris And His Wife Eudoxie Share The First Photos Of Their Newborn Daughter, Chance Oyali!
This is a big deal given the Chicago-born artist hasn’t released an album since 2016’s Ludaversal, but he tells BET.com, it’s not that he hasn’t been wanting to make music. He’s just been busy.
“Yes, I would say this is the catalyst for me getting back into music because I’ve been gone for a little while,” he says. “For all the Ludacris fans, you can let them know, I promise you, I will definitely put out more music. It’s hard to say no when you get that call about Fast and Furious 15, 20 and 25,” he says joking.
In the song, Luda shows off fast, multi-syllable bars that sounds like he’s got peanut butter stuck on the top of his mouth.
The new Jif peanut butter-inspired sound turned out so great, in fact, the brand is debuting their #JifRapChallenge challenge on TikTok, inviting other peanut butter lovers to get in on the action.
To participate, fans would try and “duet” a verse from “Butter.ATL”. The only catch — they need to do it with a mouthful of Jif peanut butter.
Ludacris has always been a fan of peanut butter and the partnership with Jif was more aligned than anyone would know.
“Jif has been in my life for my entire life,” Luda tells BET.com . Everybody has that one thing that they eat almost every day or every day and not get tired of it. Peanut butter is something I eat every single day. Jif peanut butter to be exact,” he continued.
Jif is even supporting Ludacris’ charity of choice and making a $25K contribution to the Boys & Girls Club.
“I’ve come to the point in my life after almost 20 years where anybody I’m in a partnership with, I just want it to be very natural and organic to what my everyday lifestyle is,” the proud father-of-four confirms. And that’s why this partnership is golden for me. It was made to be” he continued.”
The partnership is even going as far as to release a limited edition 37-Carat Diamond and Ruby Jif Jar — a design collaboration between Ludacris and jeweler to the stars, Icebox. Two limited-edition diamond and ruby Jif jars were created, one for Ludacris and one for a special use, which the brand will be announcing at a later time.
