Instacart Tackles 'Sunday Scaries' in Football Campaign with Monster Twist

​Instacart has returned to the NFL this fall with a campaign built around one of America’s most culturally resonant consumer tensions: the ‘Sunday Scaries.’

Launched across TV, OTT, digital, social, audio, and OOH, ‘For One Less Sunday Scary’ invites viewers to take back their Sundays by letting Instacart handle the weekly grocery shop.

The creative leans into monster tropes with a twist, brought to life by Legacy Effects (The Mandalorian) and starring bespoke ‘Sunday Scaries’ like mouldy lunchboxes, snack monsters and dirty laundry piles. The clock strikes 3:58 p.m. at the beginning of each spot – exactly when studies show Sunday anxiety peaks.

The campaign, directed by Emmy Award-winner Jessica Lee Gagné, builds on Instacart’s sports marketing strategy that includes the Super Bowl, WNBA, F1, NHL, and more, with the intent to leverage high-reach cultural moments and drive real business impact. Instacart’s Super Bowl debut earlier this year drove a 14% YoY order lift during game week, 20% surge in site traffic, and a 72% spike in new user traffic on game day – earning the top spot among first-time advertisers on USA Today’s Ad Meter.

The campaign underscores Instacart’s brand positioning around care while targeting younger consumers (gen z and millennials) who report the highest incidence of Sunday anxiety.

“We can’t solve all your Sunday Scaries, but we can take the grocery and essentials run off your plate,” said Jasmine Taylor, VP of brand marketing at Instacart. “This is a fun, cinematic campaign for us, dramatising a universal cultural feeling with a tone that’s uniquely Instacart. It’s part of a broader strategy to show up where culture lives, from NFL Sundays to Halloween, and remind consumers we’ve always got them covered.”