About two years ago, Sprouts Farmers Market executives got a call from “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan.
He wanted to feature a Sprouts location in Albuquerque in a project that would become “Pluribus,” the Apple TV streaming show that launched Nov. 7 depicting most of the world’s population overtaken by a hive mind. Alisa Gmelich, chief marketing officer of Sprouts Farmers Market, said the health-focused grocer typically turns down such opportunities from directors who want to film in the stores.
“Most of the time, we’re not really all that integral to the story,” Gmelich told Modern Retail. “And so, it’s not worth the time and energy to go ahead and close the store.”
This time, however, Sprouts went for it. That was because the Sprouts store would be integral to the plot, with the show’s main character being a big fan of shopping at Sprouts. What followed was an atypical, unpaid cameo that Sprouts and Apple TV followed with a marketing campaign to promote the show on Sprouts’s e-commerce channels.
Inside the episode
The store appears in a scene during the third episode of the show. As part of the story, the main character, a romance author named Carol, finds the Sprouts store she frequently shops at empty until the store is filled back up by an army of people. Sprouts closed the store for about two days for the shoot and had no creative control over the appearance, according to Gmelich.
“We don’t think of ourselves as a normal grocery store, and we like the idea of partnering with projects that are inspiring and interesting, and are noteworthy within the world,” Gmelich said. “That was part of what enabled me to push for this and say, ‘This just felt like the right place for Sprouts to be,’ knowing that we see ourselves differently.”
Gmelich said she didn’t know why Gilligan targeted Sprouts specifically, but pointed to Sprouts’s popularity in the market and the fact that the director identified this specific store that sits up against a mountain range — setting the scene of Albuquerque. The brand’s signage and bags are clearly visible during the scene.
“There are a number of places where the brand really comes to life,” Gmelich said. “I appreciate that part of the story — that they really wanted Sprouts to be a part of what the story was, in showing what Carol’s life was like.”
Greg Carlucci, a senior director analyst for Gartner who focuses on consumer insights and the consumer goods industry, said the partnership shows how grocers can connect with customers without necessarily promoting a product or service. He said it can be challenging to build trust with customers in a less invasive way than pushing advertisements. According to Gartner survey data from this year, about 64% of customers value purchasing from a trusted brand.
Like most retailers, Sprouts typically promotes itself through digital, streaming, out-of-home and display ads. The retailer has also sponsored the Southeastern Conference’s women’s sports and formed partnerships with female college athletes.
“Being able to showcase or demonstrate a connection between a moment that a lot of consumers can connect with via a television show that isn’t overtly like a pay-to-play — it kind of naturally happened — is a really authentic way to communicate with consumers,” Carlucci said. “In an era where consumers are inundated with a lot of advertising and promotion, being able to naturally connect with a tertiary touchpoint like a television show is a unique way to engage with customers that is different than just pushing paid content.”
From cameo to campaign
Sprouts, in collaboration with Apple TV, took the opportunity to promote the show on its e-commerce channels.
They created a campaign where the character, Carol, is named Sprouts’s “customer of the month” and formed on Sprouts’s website a collection of items Carol would be most interested in. It will be promoted in emails and on the website. So far, it has not been promoted in stores.
The companies also launched a sweepstakes where Sprouts customers can win a year-long Apple TV membership. Gmelich said the company is also planning an event at the store where the cameo was shot to celebrate the location and its employees.
“This is a very unique situation, because there are times where you enable a company to film in your store, but it really isn’t as much of an integration,” Gmelich said. “In this case, Apple TV was very open to us being able to also promote ‘Pluribus.’”
Meanwhile, Sprouts is on a growth spurt, surpassing 450 stores this year and seeing an 18% increase in net sales to about $4.5 billion in the first half of the year, Modern Retail previously reported. Its net income grew from just over $209 million in the first half of 2024 to almost $314 million a year later.
Gmelich said the retailer is not trying to be a traditional grocer, where customers can find Diet Coke or Tide, but rather a complementary shop for people looking for things that are gluten-free, vegan, keto, paleo, organic or non-GMO, or generally healthy or “better for you.” It is also working to highlight new food companies and regularly switches out its selection to showcase new items.
“We continue to stay very, very focused on our differentiation, and the part that’s fun for me as a marketer,” Gmelich said. “That enables us to continue to focus on what we do best and what our strengths are — that amazing assortment, that extraordinary experience.”
