Patrick Mahomes kept hearing that “cereal is dead”.
So what did he do?
Go and sell more boxes than any athlete in the history of sports.
Here’s the fascinating story:
Patrick Mahomes and Hy-Vee Cereal
First some background…
MVP Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is highly sought after from advertisers.
This nets him over $22M/year from:
• Adidas
• Oakley
• Whoop
• Directv
• State Farm
• Electronic Arts
• Procter & Gamble
In 2019, he was presented a unique deal…
Hy-Vee is a supermarket chain with over 280 grocery stores across the Midwest.
They saw an opportunity with Mahomes.
So what did they do?
Offer him a lucrative 3-year deal with an interesting opportunity.
Hy-Vee wanted to use Mahomes for launching their own food products.
Sort of like Kirkland Signature at Costco.
First up on the list…
Cereal (which was struggling for years).
The breakfast move had been perfected a few times before.
• Wheaties using athletes on the cover
• Doug Flutie’s “Flutie Flakes” which sold over 1 million boxes in its first year
Hy-Vee and Mahomes had a plan…
Mahomes Magic Crunch
Mahomes Magic Crunch was launched during the 2019-2020 season.
The price? $3.99.
Hy-Vee and Mahomes wanted it to be affordable for everyone.
It looks to have paid off…
The grocery chain expected to sell 50,000 boxes of cereal in year 1.
But Mahomes had other plans…
He helped lead the Chiefs to a Super Bowl victory creating a ton of publicity.
This led to 300,000 boxes of Mahomes Magic Crunch being sold.
And it didn’t stop there…
In year two, they sold over 600,000 boxes.
The best part…
For every box sold, a portion is donated to the 15 and the Mahomies Foundation.
The initiative improves the lives of children.
All-in-all…
Patrick Mahomes is a legend and will sell more cereal than any athlete in history.
