Marshawn Lynch has been an unofficial endorser of Skittles candy for years now. According to him, he's been popping the "power pellets"—the name his mom gave Skittles when he was younger—ever since his Pop Warner days. And in recent years, he's helped give the Skittles brand tons of free press during Seahawks games. As recently as a few weeks ago, Fox broadcast this image after Lynch scored a touchdown against the Saints during a playoff game:
But the days of Lynch doing free press for Skittles are over. He's not going to stop eating them, though. Rather, he's (finally!) going to start to get paid by Skittles to promote the company. It's unclear how much the brand is going to pay him. But he signed an endorsement deal recently that will pay him to promote Skittles and earn his Fam First Foundation charity $10,000 every time he scores a touchdown during the Super Bowl. Additionally, Skittles has created a special "Seattle Mix" of their candy for the big game:
This is the first time Skittles has ever paid an athlete to promote them. And they couldn't have picked a better athlete. It's rare to see a partnership between a major athlete and a major brand that's this organic. But Lynch and Skittles have been running together, unofficially, for a long time. So it's good to see that Lynch will finally be getting paid for his loyalty to his favorite candy.
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[via ESPN]
