ESPN Starts Mornings with Fans by Launching a Line of Cereal Boxes over Thanksgiving Holiday

ESPN has launched a new line of products, 'College Gameday Cereals' - which launched as an experiential activation during College GameDay over Thanksgiving. The campaign, from Arts & Letters, has received great results, with Rece Davis and Desmond Howard sharing the boxes on their personal social channels. 

In partnership with Arts & Letters, ESPN asked themselves - how can we engage with our fans and start their mornings off right, to help them experience a fun weekend packed with College Football? 

The answer: a signature line of cereal boxes, which debuted during the big game on November 26th at Ohio State when they take on Michigan. The College GameDay Cereal Collection includes six boxes that honour each of the College GameDay 6 cast members from the 2022-2023 football season: Corso’s Cereal, Dez’s Magic Maize Flakes, Streities, Rece’s Undefeated Eats, David’s Dawg Chow, and McAfee Crunch. Each cereal box also includes a traditional cereal box crossword or word game on the back, complete with an answer key for anyone who wants to give them a shot. 

To launch the Cereal Box Collection over Thanksgiving break, an on-site ESPN activation took place when College Gameday visited Ohio State for their matchup against Michigan. ESPN hosted a trailer where they handed out cereal boxes to fans in preparation for the game. Also, the boxes were distributed to influencers across the US.  

This work marks the agency/client’s first step in a growing College GameDay operating system to scale up and evolve beyond linear television and reach College Football fans on site wherever College GameDay might be that week. 

This is the second piece of creative work, following a spot sharing the story of the Washington State Flag tradition at College GameDay in September earlier this year.