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On the eve of March Madness, the biggest annual event in college hoops, men’s grooming brand Duke Cannon has made its first name, image, and likeness deal.
But there’s a catch: The company can’t use the name, image, or likeness of its new partner, the anonymous person underneath the Cy the Cardinal suit, also known as the ultimate hype man for Iowa State University.
So the brand is calling it the “first-ever UN-NIL deal,” announcing the collaboration with a series of tongue-in-cheek ads—there’s pixelation and voice distortion galore—from newly named agency of record Quality Meats.
The campaign dovetails into a brand refresh for Duke Cannon, with new packaging and marketing via the umbrella tagline “Earn Your Clean.”
Leaning into the brand’s gritty, blue-collar ethos, its products “help people who get properly dirty get properly clean,” according to Oliver Pérez, CMO of Duke Cannon Supply Co. “And nobody works harder and gets the least amount of recognition during March than college basketball mascots.”
The brand will supply Cy the Cardinal—the human hidden underneath, that is—with its range of shampoos, deodorants, body washes, and other products. That should come in handy since, as the campaign’s mockumentary-style video says, the oversized furry red suit sees the inside of a washing machine only a few times a year.
Content infusion
Quality Meats, which initially started a casual conversation with the brand over LinkedIn and eventually won the business, has surrounded the “UN-NIL” deal with content, including out-of-home, social and digital ads that will run during the NCAA’s Final Four.
An accompanying stunt will put the mascot’s “game-used” bars of Duke Cannon soap on eBay after each Iowa State game. A video that announces the activation promises a certificate of authenticity with the partially melted soap, which reportedly boast “real sweat, real fuzz, notes of sandalwood and lavender, and victory.”
