On December 4, 2024, an exuberant Hershey Firm introduced that “Reese’s is back, baby!” The confectionary large was referring to its 2025 Tremendous Bowl spot for the Reese’s Chocolate Lava Huge Cup, which adopted up on its 2024 advert for the Caramel Huge Cup.

Effectively, hear up, child: Reese’s received’t be again for Tremendous Bowl LX.

Hershey’s company confirmed that it’ll sit out the massive recreation in February, regardless of having a constant presence of late.

“After taking part within the large recreation for the previous two years, we’re taking a distinct strategic strategy this yr—one which continues to prioritize cultural relevance and connecting with customers in additional focused, significant moments,” VP of shopper connections Vinny Ronaldo instructed ADWEEK. “We’ve got thrilling plans forward and look ahead to sharing extra particulars later in 2026.”

Huge product bulletins drove Hershey’s final two Tremendous Bowl efforts—first, the debut of Reese’s Caramel Huge Cup, a souped-up model of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups with Caramel, which first appeared in 2003.

The Caramel Huge Cup added a slab of caramel to the traditional Peanut Butter Cup, a mainstay of the sweet aisle since 1928. (Hershey’s acquired Reese’s in 1963.) The 2024 Super Bowl ad featured loyal followers objecting to the corporate toying with the Peanut Butter Cup recipe—till they came upon that caramel was concerned.

In 2025, Hershey’s upped the ante with a Tremendous Bowl spot titled “Don’t Eat Lava,” a plug for Reese’s Chocolate Lava Huge Cup, rolled out in August of 2024. The 30-second advert featured Reese’s followers frantic for a style of the brand new sweet mistaking its “decadent molten chocolatey layer that oozes with each chunk” for precise lava, throwing themselves within the path of a volcanic eruption.

Powerful instances for chocolate

Whereas it’s not clear precisely why Hershey’s is skipping the Tremendous Bowl in 2026, it’s all too apparent—whether or not associated or not—that 2025 has been powerful time to be in chocolate enterprise.

In accordance with a July 2025 analysis by supply-chain administration platform Tradlinx, tariffs slapped on cocoa imported from international locations together with Ghana and Ecuador weighted Hershey down with $100 million in quarterly prices—which “melted Hershey’s margins.” Within the firm’s second-quarter earnings name on July 30, Hershey CFO Steven Voskuil mentioned that tariffs would price the corporate as a lot as $170 million. 

Earlier than that decision, Hershey had introduced on July 22 that it will elevate costs by “low double digits,” although it cited rising cocoa prices from exporting international locations like Ivory Coast and Ghana—not tariffs—as the explanation.