• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, September 1, 2017

Mentos Gum has teamed with hip-hop star DJ Khaled on a socially-driven sampling promotion aimed at college students and college football fans.

The brand challenged University of Wisconsin-Madison freshman Sam Jeschke to give away 43,000 bottles of the gum (the size of the entire student body) in the six days leading up to the start of classes on Sept. 6.

That works out to 7,166 bottles per day, 298 bottles per hour and five bottles per minute. The company created a video (embedded below) outlining Jeschke's challenge. If he succeeds in his task, Jeschke will receive a year of tuition and win a DJ Khaled concert for the student body.

The effort includes the presence of a 26-foot moving truck, emblazoned with Sam’s face and filled with the bottles of gum. 

The brand must be pretty confident about his success, because it has tied in a national sweepstakes with a grand prize of a trip for two to see a DJ Khaled concert on the UW Madison campus, set for Oct. 30. 

To enter the sweeps, which also ends on Sept. 6, consumers 18 and up can visit SamHasMentosGum.com, register, and describe an idea for helping Sam distribute the gum and make connections on his college’s campus. 

Sam’s progress can be followed on #SamHasMentosGum and Mentos Gum’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube channels. In addition, DJ Khaled and social media star Sara Hopkins will use their social accounts to lend Sam encouragement. 

The campaign, from the Fast Horse agency, will also serve to amplify the brand’s title sponsorship of the University of Wisconsin football team’s season opener on Sept. 1, to be broadcast on ESPN.

“The #SamHasMentosGum challenge was created to demonstrate how Mentos Gum gives you a boost of confidence when meeting new people,” said Sylvia Buxton, VP marketing for Mentos parent company Perfetti Van Melle North America. “The simple act of sharing a piece of Mentos Gum is all it takes to create a lasting connection.”