The New Mexico Tourism Department and Chex Mix are pairing limited-edition packaging with a sweepstakes as the state prepares for Route 66’s 2026 centennial.
The New Mexico Tourism Department, New Mexico Magazine and Chex Mix are joining forces around the Route 66 Centennial with limited-edition Chex Mix BOLD packaging and a New Mexico road-trip sweepstakes. The New Mexico-themed packs have rolled out in convenience stores across the United States, alongside Route 66-inspired point-of-sale displays and signage. The collaboration places a familiar packaged snack within a wider tourism campaign focused on New Mexico’s stretch of the historic highway and the road-trip culture associated with it.
The partnership is centred on Route 66’s 100th anniversary, which the release says will be officially recognised on November 11, 2026. More than 460 miles of the route cross New Mexico, connecting communities including Gallup, Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Tucumcari. The release highlights a mix of vintage motels, classic diners, roadside attractions, public art and Indigenous cultural destinations along the state’s section of the highway, framing the anniversary as both a historical commemoration and a statewide tourism occasion.
New Mexico Magazine is partnering on the Chex Mix Hits the Road in New Mexico sweepstakes, which offers a curated Route 66 adventure for two. The grand prize includes five nights of hotel accommodation across Gallup, Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Tucumcari, a VIP experience at Acoma Pueblo Sky City, passes from the Museum Foundation of New Mexico, a $1,000 airline gift card and a mid-size rental car. Participating hospitality and cultural partners named in the release include Hotel El Rancho, El Vado Motel, La Fonda on the Plaza, Roadrunner Lodge and Sky City Cultural Center & Haak’u Museum.
The release presents the collaboration as a meeting of food branding and destination marketing, using packaging and retail displays to connect the Chex Mix name with a specific travel narrative. General Mills executive Oliver Perez said the partnership was intended to inspire travellers to experience the stories, flavours and landscapes associated with New Mexico’s road-trip destinations. The tourism department’s Acting Tourism Secretary Lancing Adams similarly described the collaboration as a way to capture the spirit of an American road trip while directing attention to places along the state’s Route 66 corridor.
The sweepstakes was reported as open from 12:00:01 a.m. Eastern Time on June 1, 2026, through 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time on August 31, 2026, with entry limited to legal residents of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., aged 21 or older with a valid U.S. driver’s licence. The packaging and promotion form part of New Mexico’s broader 2026 Route 66 Centennial programme, which the release says includes festivals, public art installations, restored neon signage, new visitor experiences and cultural programming. For the New Mexico Tourism Department, the campaign extends the centennial beyond a commemorative date into a consumer-facing invitation to explore the route.
