Afia Arabia Generates 42M+ Views With World Cup Food Creator Campaign

Afia’s 2026 World Cup cooking campaign "Afia Mondial" drove 42M+ views and a 65.7% share of voice, outperforming major competitors with audience-led engagement.

RIYADH, RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA, September 8, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Afia Arabia Generates 42M+ Views With World Cup Food Creator Campaign

Afia Arabia generated more than 42 million views, 65 million impressions and nearly 30,000 audience votes during the 2026 FIFA World Cup through Afia Mondial, a social-first cooking tournament that placed eight Saudi Arabia-based food creators and chefs into head-to-head challenges inspired by the structure of the World Cup. The campaign also achieved a 65.7% Share of Voice by captured public views within its tracked competitor set, outperforming World Cup activity from significantly larger food and beverage brands competing for attention during the same period.

Afia entered a particularly crowded advertising moment. Major global brands were activating around the World Cup through sponsorships, football stars and large-scale media campaigns. Rather than attempting to compete on celebrity power, Afia connected the tournament to a behaviour already relevant to its category: people gathering around food while watching matches.

The result was Afia Mondial 2026.

Eight food creators and chefs were assigned national teams and competed through three culinary stages, moving from appetizers to main courses and finally desserts. The creators used Afia products within their dishes, giving the brand a functional role within the content rather than appearing as a separate product placement.

The campaign adopted several mechanics familiar from football tournaments, including teams, rivalries, knock-out progression and commentary. A food creator known for his distinctive narration became the campaign's dedicated commentator, connecting individual cook-offs into one continuing competition.
Its most important mechanic, however, was audience participation.

After each cook-off, followers voted on Instagram for the creator they wanted to progress. This gave audiences a reason to follow the campaign across multiple rounds rather than simply consume individual influencer posts. The approach produced a significant increase over Afia's previous social performance. Retained pre-campaign content had generated 5.3 million public views. Afia Mondial delivered 42 million-plus views, almost eight times that benchmark, alongside approximately 90,000 tracked engagements, 5,000 comments and 12,200 shares.

Compared with the pre-campaign benchmark, engagements increased 465%, comments rose 1,365.5% and shares increased 221.8%. The campaign also generated 29,936 Instagram votes, showing that audiences were not only viewing the content but actively influencing the competition.

Its performance stood out further within the World Cup advertising environment. Afia captured a 65.7% Share of Voice based on public views across its tracked competitive set, compared with 12.1% for Kellogg's Noodles, 11.2% for Lay's Arabia and 9.9% for Coca-Cola.

Organic participation provided another indication that the concept travelled beyond paid distribution. Afia initially contracted eight creators, but 14 additional creators and public figures joined the campaign without payment. Contracted creators also continued posting beyond their agreed deliverables.
Across Instagram and TikTok, Afia gained approximately 15,000 new followers during the campaign.

Afia Mondial shows how a brand without a natural football association can still compete during one of the world's most crowded advertising moments. Instead of trying to imitate major sponsors, Afia translated the behaviours that make tournaments compelling, including rivalry, anticipation, participation and progression, into a format that belonged naturally within food culture.

Read the full Afia Mondial 2026 campaign case study on SOOGK.
Meet the food creators behind Afia Mondial 2026 on Proud Saudi.

Afia Mondial 2026
Arbaaa Media
Pr@arbaaa.com