They’re back. The “Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon” promotion that went viral last year is here again for the 2024 season with more students joining the cast, the Iowa Pork Producers Association reports.
The first in a series of episodic videos featuring Myles Purchase, Tyler Moore, Tommy Hamann and Caleb Bacon launched Aug. 26. The players have renewed a NIL (name, image, likeness) agreement with the Iowa Pork Producers Association to encourage people to, well, purchase more ham and bacon.
“The Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon promotion exceeded beyond our wildest dreams last year and we’re thrilled to partner with these student-athletes once again,” Matt Gent, a pig farmer from Wellman, Iowa, who also serves as president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, said in a release. “This campaign is such a fun way to encourage people to buy pork, bring some more recognition to these players, and to provide meals to families in need.”
Debuting in September 2023, the campaign quickly gained a following across social media, earning millions of views and gaining widespread national attention. The Sports Business Journal named the partnership between Iowa Pork and Iowa State players the “Best NIL Deal of 2023”. Cyclones Alec Cook and Zach Lovett were later added to the campaign and return this year, Iowa Pork Producers Association explains.
“One change to this year’s promotion is Tommy Hamann’s decision to leave the Iowa State football program and focus on his engineering degree. The video episode released on Aug. 26, ‘Goodbye, Tommy’ shows Hamann bidding farewell to the group, leaving Purchase, Moore, Bacon, Cook and Lovett wondering what happens next,” the release says.
Videos will be released every Monday at 10 a.m. for the next seven weeks as several Cyclone students participate in tryouts for the campaign to see if they fit into the ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ mantra. The episodic series will conclude on Oct. 7, just in time to celebrate National Pork Month.
In conjunction with the NIL partnership, the Iowa Pork Producers Association will donate $1,000 worth of pork to a food pantry chosen by every student that appears in the ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ videos. The donations from the “Goodbye, Tommy” video will go to:
• Food Bank of the Rockies in Denver, Colo., in the name of Myles Purchase
• DMARC in Des Moines, Iowa, in the name of Tyler Moore
• Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners in Plymouth, Minn., in the name of Tommy Hamann
• Lake Mills Food Shelf in Lake Mills, Iowa, in the name of Caleb Bacon
• Food Bank for the Heartland in Omaha, Neb., in the name of Alec Cook
• Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, in the name of Zach Lovett
Last year, the Iowa Pork Producers Association donated $13,000 worth of pork to those students’ food pantries of choice.
None of the players in the initial photo were widely known a year ago, but Iowa Pork Producers Association says that quickly changed as ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ skyrocketed across social media, local news, sports talk radio, and prominent national outlets like USA Today and ESPN.
“Since we did the first ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ photo almost a year ago, there’s a lot more publicity to all our names and I feel like we’re mainly known for that moment,” Caleb Bacon said in a release. “Anytime that I mention my last name to someone, that’s the first thing they bring up.”
The Lake Mills, Iowa native is a former walk-on to the Cyclone football team who earned a scholarship following a strong sophomore season and is now one of the team’s leaders. Bacon will wear jersey number 26 this football season in honor of former Cyclone wide receiver Jack Whitver who is battling brain cancer, the article says. The ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ photos and videos were shot prior to the jersey switch.
Look for the ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ videos on the Iowa Pork Producers Association’s Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube channels.
Read More:
Lovett Adds His Name to the “Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon” NIL Initiative
Iowa Pork Adds Cook to ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ NIL Initiative
Iowa State Football Players Go Viral in ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ Campaign
Iowa Pork Wins Best NIL Deal of 2023 Award for Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon Promotion
