Iowa Pork Producers add more ISU athletes to viral NIL ad
Former walk-on Caleb Bacon talks about his time with the Iowa State football team
Former walk-on Caleb Bacon talks about his game for the Iowa State football team
Iowans love pork and they love football.
That’s why the Iowa Pork Producers Association is reviving the viral ad featuring Iowa State University athletes throwing around the old pork skin.
In hopes of encouraging people to buy more ham and bacon, the Iowa Pork Producers Association has entered into a name, image and likeness deal using the surnames of Iowa State football players.
The last names of ISU Cyclone football players Myles Purchase, Tyler Moore, Tommy Hamann and Caleb Bacon are conveniently the basis for a compelling advertising campaign: “Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon.” Since the first ad, Cyclones Alec Cook and Zach Lovett have joined the team.
When the promotion first launched last year, it went viral, garnering millions of views and being featured on ESPN’s SportsCenter social media account, according to the Iowa Pork Producers Association. The Sports Business Journal also named the partnership the best NIL deal of 2023.
The promotional campaign will be repeated in 2024 and the association is looking for more Cyclones to join it.
More: Hardly anyone recruited Caleb Bacon in high school. Now he’s a football star at Iowa State
What’s new with the Buy Moore Hamann Bacon campaign?
Hamann will no longer participate in the promotion. According to IPPA, he recently decided to leave Iowa State’s football program to focus on his engineering studies. A video has been released in which Hamann says goodbye to his teammates.
But that is not the end of the campaign. The IPPA is looking for more students to cast in the advertising.
Where can I watch the “Buy Moore Hamann Bacon” 2024 promotional videos?
Videos can be found on YouTube or on the Iowa Pork Producers Association’s social media. For the next seven weeks, new test videos from Cyclone students will air every Monday at 10 a.m. to see if they fit the “Buy Moore Hamann Bacon” mantra. The series will end on October 7, just in time for National Pork Month, known as Porktober.
Pork Promotion donates to food banks
For every student who participates in the promotional campaign, IPPA will donate $1,000 worth of pork to a food bank of the student’s choice. Last year, $13,000 worth of pork was donated to food banks. Donations from the latest video will go to the following food banks:
- Food Bank of the Rockies in Denver, Colorado, on behalf of Myles Purchase
- DMARC in Des Moines, Iowa, on behalf of Tyler Moore
- Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners in Plymouth, Minnesota, on behalf of Tommy Hamann
- Lake Mills Food Shelf in Lake Mills, Iowa, on behalf of Caleb Bacon
- Food Bank for the Heartland in Omaha, Nebraska, in the name of Alec Cook
- Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, on behalf of Zach Lovett
Kate Kealey is a general assignment reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @Kkealey17.
