As the annual “New Year, New You” reset kicks into high gear, Health-Ade is taking a more grounded approach to wellness. One rooted in everyday habits rather than all-or-nothing resolutions. The kombucha brand known for its bubbly drinks crafted to support gut health is extending its “Thrill Your Gut” creative platform with new work timed to the New Year wellness moment, supported by category-leading growth in an increasingly challenging market.
Created by branding and advertising agency FUNDAY, the campaign brings back fan favorite Gut Guy, the brand’s cheeky and charming gut health flavor genie. His return builds on what made the original work resonate by using wit and personality to make kombucha’s functional benefits feel less clinical and far more approachable and fun.
Rather than leaning into extreme wellness promises, the latest work reinforces Health-Ade’s belief that feeling good should fit into real life. Gut Guy pops up in everyday moments as a snacking sidekick, offering a light and relatable reminder that feeling good can start from the inside out.
In one of the campaign’s :15 spots, Gut Guy oozes, “Hold me closer, tangerina ballerina,” in a playful nod to Health-Ade’s real fruit flavored Tangerine Passion Fruit kombucha. One of three 15-second ads, the campaign uses vibrant visuals, snappy wordplay, and feel-good flavor moments designed to show the satisfying YASSS your gut feels after a sip. Watch below:
“The new year often comes with pressure to change everything at once,” said Sandra Heidrich, Vice President, Marketing of Health-Ade Kombucha. “Bringing back Gut Guy allowed us to continue showing up with a point of view that feels familiar, approachable, and grounded in how people actually live, especially at a moment when people are looking for sustainable ways to feel good.”
“From the beginning, Gut Guy was designed to help simplify the conversation around kombucha and gut health,” said Jared Folkmann, Chief Creative Officer at FUNDAY. “When you see the kind of performance Health-Ade is delivering, it validates that the creative platform is doing its job. This extension evolves the work while staying true to what made it resonate: making wellness feel exciting and accessible, not intimidating.”
The campaign extension arrives amid the brand’s standout performance. Over the past 52 weeks, Health-Ade grew 2.1 percent in dollar sales while the broader kombucha category declined 6.8 percent. With a 24 percent dollar share, the brand is driving more than 100 percent of category growth. Momentum Health-Ade attributes its sustained brand-building efforts to product quality and expanded distribution.
The 360-degree nationwide campaign launched between January 1 and January 5 across TV, OOH, digital, and paid social, including Instagram and Facebook.
CREDITS:
BRAND: Health-Ade
AGENCY: FUNDAY
- Founders: Jared Folkmann and Alex Baghdjian
- Chief Creative Officer: Jared Folkmann
- Executive Creative Director: Kathryn Whiteside
- Creative Director: Stefan Smith
- Associate Creative Director (Art): Taylor Lumley
- Copywriter: Samantha Angus
- Sr. Designer: Dylan Rozario
- Head of Strategy: Kelsey Chudiak
- Account Director: Yvonne Pikula
- Director of Digital Production: Melania Melikian
EDIT:
Editor: Lily Zakaryan
COLOR: Cereal Post
VFX: FUNDAY
- Production Lead: Harry Zakaryan
- VFX: Karen Hovhannisyan
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