MAYO x MAYO: Hellmann’s Mayo and Jerod Mayo Team Up During the Big Game to Tackle Food Waste

The new ad features former football player turned professional football coach, Jerod Mayo, to show people how they can ‘make taste, not waste’

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., February 7, 2022 – Hellmann’s is back at The Big Game this year and is teaming up with another mayo, legendary linebacker turned professional football coach Jerod Mayo, to continue driving awareness around the important issue of food waste at home. To educate and inspire people to take action and ‘make taste, not waste’, Hellmann’s and Jerod Mayo are establishing the MAYO x MAYO food waste tackling team.

The Big Game is known as one of America’s largest food holidays, where we often see people overbuying food which can lead to significant food waste. However, this isn’t the only time of year when Americans waste food. Approximately 40% of all food in the U.S. is wasted each year and approximately 40% of that food waste happens at home.¹ Through this campaign and their continued efforts to combat food waste, Hellmann’s hopes to inspire people to change behaviors and make a positive impact.

“As a long-time fan and fellow ‘mayo,’ I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to partner with Hellmann’s to raise awareness for such an important issue,” said Jerod Mayo. “Food waste in the U.S. is something we must tackle together. At home, my wife Chantel and I always try to use leftover ingredients in our pantry or fridge to reduce food waste and we hope this spot encourages people to do the same.”

The new spot pays homage to the iconic Office Linebacker character known as “Terry Tate,” embodied by actor, producer, director, and former football pro Lester Speight, as portrayed and depicted in the previously released short film and commercial video series entitled “Terry Tate: Office Linebacker.” This year’s spot features Jerod Mayo playfully “tackling” food waste. Thanks to a food waste tackle, Hellmann's gets viewers thinking about making a grilled cheese or frittata and offer these creative ideas to show that with a little creativity in the kitchen we can ‘make taste, not waste’ with ingredients they have on hand.

Comedian, actor and writer, Pete Davidson, along with his mom Amy Davidson make an appearance, with Pete taking a tackle of his own from Mayo. “It’s not every day I get tackled by a football pro like Jerod Mayo,” said Pete Davidson. “I love that Hellmann’s has made it their mission to reduce unnecessary food waste at home, which is cool because we can all get involved. Ma and I have learned a lot and have had fun figuring out ways we can waste less ourselves. All food has potential, so let’s keep it out of the garbage.”

“Mayo Tackles Food Waste” will air during the fourth quarter. An extended version of the Hellmann’s Big Game spot was released today.

Hellmann’s and Jerod Mayo Tackle Food Waste

One way Hellmann’s is educating people on how they can help reduce food waste is through the new behavior change program called Fridge Night, which is a four-week program that is scientifically proven to help people reduce their food waste at home. The program, which is offered as a free app available for download in iOS and Android app stores, is designed to inspire and guide people on how they can be more resourceful with food at home and provides tangible solutions such as ‘Flexipes’, flexible recipes to turn left-behind ingredients into easy-to-prepare meals. Jerod Mayo’s wife, Chantel Mayo and recipe creator and chef Andy Hay serve as hosts to help incentivize users to think about meal creation differently.

“We can all relate to the moment when we look inside our fridge or pantry, unsure of what to do with the ingredients we have on hand and instead of thinking creatively, we just throw them away,” said Ben Crook, Senior Marketing Director for Hellmann’s North America.  “It’s because of this behavior that we see 40% of food waste happening at-home and why it’s so important to continue bringing awareness to the issue of food waste.  Through this campaign and teaming up with Jerod Mayo and Pete Davidson, we hope we can show people how they can tackle food waste at-home, provide inspiration to get creative in the kitchen with food we already have at home and make a positive impact and lasting change.”

Hellmann’s goal is to inspire and enable 100 million people around the world every year to be more resourceful with their food, so they waste less. This is part of the brand’s support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of reducing food waste by 50% by 2030. In this effort, Hellmann’s is working with Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic to help enact policy change at a federal level. This includes legislative policy for the standardization and clarity of food date labels -- one of the most common drivers of at-home waste, including a bicameral and bipartisan bill introduction in early December 2021.

Hellmann’s and Pete Davidson Tackle Food Waste

Hellmann’s is helping to provide 500,000 meals to Feeding America® and are working to secure an additional 5,000 meals for every in-game tackle with the goal of doubling the amount to provide a total of one million meals².

Fridge Night is available for U.S. consumers, food waste tacklers in the making, to download on iOS and Android beginning February 2^nd. To learn more and view our collection of ‘Flexipes,’ visit www.Hellmanns.com.

Media contacts:
Jena Sussman
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