Auckland Agency Launches World’s First Snack-Focused Media Buying Division, Cites ‘Complicated Hunger’ in Gen Z

By Mad Team on January 27, 2026

In a bold move that no one asked for, Midtown & Slither has announced the launch of ‘CraveOps’, the world’s first snack-centric media buying division. The unit, operating out of a reclaimed vape lounge in Parnell, will focus on pairing digestible media placements with edible consumer moods. CraveOps’ inaugural campaign? A 14-week sponsored trail mix rollout on Three’s late-night fishing show, “Hooked & Troubled.”

Agency spokesperson and Head of GastroMedia, Felicity Penn-Wray, said the move was a response to Gen Z’s “growing need for layered snacking identities.” According to internal tasting panels and a six-month scooter ethnography tour of Sylvia Park, brand engagement jumps 37% when viewers are holding a dry food item they can’t pronounce. “We don’t just want impressions. We want salt-activated recall,” Penn-Wray said, while adjusting a branded cheesecloth visor.

The division will also introduce a new in-house metric, the Snack-Affinity Index (S.A.I), said to measure the ‘moodiness of mouthfeel’ during pre-roll ads. Early findings suggest campaigns for regional Toyota dealerships perform best when paired with beetroot crisps, although test group B did become briefly violent when forced to consume fennel popcorn during a Vodafone pre-roll.

Industry speculation hints at further expansions, including ‘SipOps’ and ‘Chewfluence’, but Midtown & Slither remains coy. “We’re not reinventing the wheel,” said CraveOps strategist Jolyon Spruce. “We’re just lightly salting it and serving with aioli in an enamel bowl no one asked for.”