I wish I wrote that: an unexpected athlete ambassador

We asked our reporters, who play so well with others, to choose a favorite story from 2022 by a Retail Brew colleague.

It’s always fun when someone can turn their disgusting habit into a viral marketing opportunity, and Tennessee Titans Will Levis was able to do just that.

Retail Brew’s Andrew Adam Newman reported on the “lifetime supply” of Hellmann’s mayonnaise Levis scored in August after the Titans quarterback went viral on TikTok in 2021 for adding mayonnaise to his coffee. The video subsequently resurfaced this year before the NFL draft.

But what could have been a simple story about a weird quirk that led to a marketing deal evolved into a broader look at how Unilever-owned Hellmann’s—a household name that is by many accounts Americans’ favorite brand—approaches its marketing strategy. Here’s Andrew’s take:

Mayonnaise does get a bad rap, usually because of its high fat content, but if there’s any company that’s going to properly advocate on its behalf, it appears to be Hellmann’s.

As for Levis, the quarterback is now a starter for the Titans, and he’s since admitted that he doesn’t actually put mayonnaise in his coffee.

• Hellmann’s, for the fourth straight year, will air a 30-second Super Bowl commercial that’s slated to run in the second quarter.
• The ad will focus on food waste, given that the Super Bowl is a major contributor to that problem.

Read the original story: How QB Will Levis famously putting mayonnaise in his coffee led to Hellmann's hiring him as a brand ambassador