If you’ve been to the union and seen the posters, you knew that #SamHadMentosGum. But now that UW-Madison freshman Sam Jeschke successfully handed out 43,000 bottles of gum, here's what you didn't know about the Mentos Gum challenge:
Jeschke and UW-Madison’s students aren’t the only beneficiaries of the event
Although Mentos Gum isn’t paying the university anything for the campaign, the company has a contract negotiated with Badger Sports Properties—who manages multimedia rights for the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department—that will send funds to the Wisconsin Union. The money will be used “to support the many kinds of arts, entertainment and recreational programs it offers to students,” according to UW-Madison spokesperson Meredith McGlone. Additionally, Mentos will pay for one year of Jeschke’s tuition and fund an Oct. 30 DJ Khaled concert for the campus.
Jeschke was a paid spokesperson for Mentos Gum
In addition to receiving a free year of tuition from the gum company, Jeschke will receive $2,500 for distributing Mentos Gum at designated locations throughout campus.
According to Jeschke’s contract with Mentos, he was required to participate in both “on and off-camera performances” for the company. Moreover, the freshman may not provide any “endorsement, sponsorship, or other services” to any person or company who manufactures or sells a product similar to Mentos Gum for one year.
On campus, Jeschke was directed by the Mentos team
While on campus, Jeschke was shadowed by a team of cameramen and Mentos spokespeople who directed him to different events. Once it was determined Jeschke had distributed enough bottles for a day, the day would end.
“Sometimes we would do a couple hours and then there’d be a break, and then we’d come back at night,” Jeschke said. “There’d be times when we’d go from like 10 in the morning to like 10 at night. It depended on the day and the stuff we had planned.”
Being in front of the camera is “in his blood”
Although some people may be uncomfortable having a five-man camera crew follow them around campus for a week, Jeschke said being in front of a camera is in his blood. Jeschke’s father, Greg Jeschke, is a WKOW-TV evening news anchor.
“It’s really not that weird having cameras on me all the time. My dad is a TV reporter, and it’s not like I do that, but I feel like I get [my camera skills] from him,” he said.
Jeschke wasn’t expecting #SamHasMentosGum to be this popular
When Jeschke filled out an application, went through a series of interviews and eventually became the face of #SamHasMentosGum, he was not expecting the event to become this popular.
“When I came into this, I was under the presumption that I would be passing out some Mentos and maybe putting up some posters,” Jeschke said. “Then they took me down to the Union and my face was on the side of a truck. I was like ‘Oh wow, this is actually for real.’”
