Little Big Engine Breaks Edgy Parody Campaign for Tovala

Nov. 06, 2025

Little Big Engine, the independent creative, production and branding agency, has partnered with Tovala to launch a bold multichannel advertising campaign to drive brand awareness and increase trial for their meal delivery service that includes a proprietary smart oven that cooks each meal automatically via WiFi-enabled technology.

The campaign uses a winkingly exaggerated style of political satire to explain how Tovala’s very real “too good to be true” smart oven and meal delivery service works and dramatize to a wider U.S. audience that the brand is the best choice for effortless, high-quality and nutritious homemade meals.

Little Big Engine created a 2:30 hero video that tells Tovala’s story via an increasingly absurd live U.S. House Subcommittee hearing on “dinner intelligence” in which a clueless Representative, Cory Upt (who “Should’ve retired year ago”), asks the Tovala customer witness why an oven would need to “scan a…cute art code?” to cook his dinner. His ignorance is heightened by his self-satisfied smirk of disbelief. The witness explains that the Tovala Smart Oven simply scans a QR code to automatically cook every dish perfectly. The hearing then escalates with paranoid accusations that Tovala is attempting to make all meal delivery services “obsolete.”

The 2:30 video has been adapted in four :30 and multiple :60 and alternate versions and will run on CTV, linear TV, organic social channels (Instagram, FB, TikTok, YouTube), paid social (Meta, Applovin, Google, YouTube) and owned online channels.

Patrick Maravilla, ECD, Little Big Engine said:

“It was so much fun to tell Tovala's story in a way that held a mirror to the absolute absurdity of everyday life - the kind of chaos everyone knows all too well. It’s a bold move for a company to go after anything that seems political, but Tovala pushed us to make it something entertaining and something that people will notice and remember. This kind of approach is key to helping a brand disrupt social feeds and stay culturally relevant in a time when so many brands simply get skipped or scrolled past.”

 

The use of parody allowed Tovala to be playful, dramatic and over-the-top while still landing the core product truth: Tovala helps everyone “Dinner Better.” The company’s smart oven was launched during a 2015 venture challenge at the University of Chicago, received Y Combinator and VC backing and began shipping meals in 2017.  The company rapidly expanded its smart oven and meal delivery integration, now offering two oven models and over 45 fresh, chef-crafted meals each week. With just one minute of prep and 20 minutes or less of cooking time, each meal’s ingredients are perfectly optimized for the oven’s QR-powered automation.

Alex McArthur, CMO said:

“This campaign is a milestone for Tovala. It marks our shift from traditional product messaging to culture-driven storytelling. We don’t want people to just hear about what Tovala does; we want them to be entertained and understand how it can truly make their lives easier. That emotional connection is important because when dinner feels homemade but takes no effort, it transforms not just your evening, but how you spend it.”

 

The Tovala Smart Oven offers bake, broil, toast, reheat, air fry and steam functions and can be used as a standalone appliance with manual settings. It also scans barcodes from other prepared meals and packaged foods for automatic cooking.

Little Big Engine won the Tovala business in August 2025 on a project basis. The agency has seen a run of growth and creative recognition including new business from Wise, the global fintech company, and praise from Advertising Age for the same campaign. Clients include global and national brands like ZipRecruiter and Edible Arrangements and challenger brands like Skyscanner, Purple mattress, Chirp, Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter, Pura and Kizik.