Mentos Brings Its Iconic Jingle to TikTok With Carter Vail

Gen Z and Gen Alpha are in for a treat

Mentos is bringing its ’90s jingle to a TikTok audience, with Carter Vail starring in nine ads from Highdive. How is “Freshmaker” celebrating its 35th anniversary?

Directed by Hannah Levy of Tool, the videos feature Vail in relatable scenarios. And while Mentos can’t help him out of scrapes, the super-fresh mints can serve as an escape. 

Like the time you send a “You Up” text to an ex, only to find them happily coupled and wanting to hang out as friends.

@mentos_us Not the reply you expected? We can’t help you, but we can give you Mentos, right @Carter Vail? #TheFreshmaker #YesToFresh ♬ original sound – Mentos

Or that time you and your mom watched a movie with saucy scenes.

@mentos_us Mom likes the steamy scenes a little too much? Mentos can’t help you, we’re just Mentos. #MentosReFreshmaker @Carter Vail ♬ original sound – Mentos

And if your date holds his spoon like a serial killer, he’s not the one!

@mentos_us Your date giving you the ick? Mentos can’t help you, we’re just Mentos. #MentosReFreshmaker @Carter Vail ♬ original sound – Mentos

“We probably wrote over 75 songs to land on the 9 we ultimately made,” says Chad Broude, co-founder and co-CCO at Highdive. “We also filmed all nine Re-Freshmaker social videos in one day, which was an incredibly tall task. We rehearsed the whole thing the day before we filmed to make sure we knew exactly what we needed to do every minute of the shoot day, nailing down wardrobe changes, prop changes, and even which pack of Mentos Carter should be holding and singing into for every shot. On the shoot day, we locked the camera and lighting in one position for the entire day, and all that changed in front of the camera was Carter’s wardrobe and which direction he was facing.”

“Highdive production, Tool, Cut + Run Editorial, Butter Music, and Jogger (for graphics) were all on set and working together to create a finely tuned machine to ensure that we could capture all the content we wanted. But it was a marathon of a day for Carter, performing all the different characters non-stop for the entire shoot day. There aren’t a lot of performers who could pull that off. It really was one of those projects where everyone did their jobs at the highest level and it all came together to create something fun and ridiculous and even better than we could have ever imagined.”

The vids used a combo of stock, AI and simple motion design to give the brand a vibe that meshes well with TikTok. Vail is also penning a version of the jingle, and another TikTok comedian and musician—Kyle Gordon—will work with Vail on additional social content.