Mac-A-Roni by Rice-A-Roni: Rolling Out a New Line from a Bay Area Classic, Startup Style

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When a San Francisco-based legacy brand that’s been a household favorite for decades decided to launch a new product line, it only made sense to give it a debut worthy of its tech-heavy hometown.

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To introduce Mac-A-Roni, Rice-A-Roni’s latest offering, I partnered with PR agency Fleishman Hillard and m ss ng p eces creative director Josh Nussbaum to produce a two-part launch campaign. The first prong was a Silicon Valley–style “keynote”event complete with all the pomp of a tech product reveal, led by our Chief Macaroni Officer Joel McHale. The keynote video drove buzz online, setting the stage for the second phase: a pop-up tasting experience in the heart of SoHo, designed to look and feel like a sleek “tech store” where guests could sample both new flavors of the new line.

 

The press and public ate it up (pun intended), resulting in over 4 billion impressions and 400+ media placements worldwide.

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Behind the scenes, this was a truly integrated campaign with multiple production teams running in parallel. In Los Angeles, we filmed the keynote with celebrity talent, complete with macro food cinematography, and stills product photography. At the same time, a second team in New York was designing and building the pop-up tasting space.

 

Managing two large teams across the country, while staying in close communication with PR, agency, and brand stakeholders, required meticulous organization and constant problem-solving.

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As producer, I oversaw every moving part — from celebrity talent logistics to custom fabrication and event permitting — ensuring the creative vision was fully realized. The result was a seamless, high-energy launch that gave a beloved comfort food brand a product debut as bold and innovative as its Bay Area roots.