The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, meanwhile, has thrown on-field hotel rooms and Cheez-It-branded haircuts from sideline barber shops at fans for years. After last year’s mascot faceoff, however, Cheez-It added Love Island star Kordell Beckham to its gameday roster as “Chief Fantazeez Officer (CFO)” and having him on hand to help fans live out “Football Fantazeez,” including a two-minute timeout wedding officiated by Ched-Z, a stint as a sportscaster reporting from a studio in the world’s largest bowl of Cheez-Its, and an up-close witness to a Ched-Z field-goal attempt.
That escalation—and a game day menu at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium that includes a “Spicy Cheez-It Bird Dog,” “Loaded Cheez-It Brisket Potato Skins,” and a “Cheez-It Pimento Cheez & Bacon Burger”—confirms the essential role weirdness plays in Kellanova’s college-bowl game plan.
“College football fans, particularly those steeped in meme culture and humor shaped by cultural platforms, respond to campaigns that feel as unpredictable and lively as their own tailgate traditions,” said Cara Tragseiler, Kellanova senior brand director for Cheez-It. “Embracing ‘weird’ is not just valuable—it’s vital for connecting with our audience.”
With Pop-Tarts still touting its “crazy good” tagline and pairing last year’s bowl success into an integrated partnership with Netflix, its marketing team acknowledges that there’s some weirdness to the brand’s campaign—but it takes just the right recipe to make “weird” work.
“Maintaining that balance of fun and cultural relevance is part of our mission,” Ray said. “We’re not just trying to be unconventional for the sake of it—we’re creating memorable experiences that leave fans saying, ‘I can’t believe they did that!’”
Snoop-er Bowl
Eric Rhodes, the Arizona Bowl’s vice president of communications, answers the phone, “Hey, this is Eric Rhodes from the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop”—not out of obligation or awe at having a globally recognized figure associated with his game, but knowing the work Snoop Dogg’s name and brand is doing in that title.
