Everyone knows Tom Brady has his own particular brand of health consciousness. So when a Facebook post went up Tuesday depicting the Patriots QB's ice cream-stocked freezer, people took notice.
It was an amazing day for our brand.
In particular, three things stood out. For starters, just to get this out of the way, his dog Fluffy is in the freezer, looking all cute and tiny and maybe a bit confused. Then there were the pints of ice cream with Sharpie-marked flavors atop the lids, including two that said, simply, Avocado. And finally, it was hard to miss the boxes on boxes of Boston-based Yasso, the frozen Greek yogurt bars two children sitting on the counter – presumably his kin with wife Gisele Bündchen – could be seen noshing on, probably with much delight if only we could see their adorable little faces.
This all set off quite the social media chain reaction. The attention crashed Yasso's website, who was also quick to take notice: When the dust had settled, they took it all in stride, actually producing a new flavor – Avocado Chocolate Chip – to honor the occasion and TB12's affinity for desserts that are actually kinda good for you.
"Touchdown! We've never whipped up a flavor in a day before but it's tasting pretty good right now!" the company posted to its Facebook page. "Tom Brady thanks to you and the family for being #Yasso fans! Let us know ship to address so you can try your custom Avocado Chocolate Chip #Yasso!"
This is all very sweet. And I'd be surprised if Mr. Brady doesn't indulge them a bit for the effort. But it also had some people wondering: Was this a fortuitous coincidence, or was this actually an example of sneaky paid content?
There is literally no universe in which this is not paid placement for the only brand name shown in the frame pic.twitter.com/Zy8o9COiS3
— Helen Rosner (@hels) June 21, 2016
That's a scandalous prospect, but it looks like this was simply the case of a brand acting fast in the face of some old fashioned, organic social media buzz.
"We saw an opportunity to work alongside Tom Brady," Yasso's co-CEO Drew Harrington told me. "The team reacted to his post and we had some fun with it, creating a custom Yasso Avocado Chocolate Chip flavor for him. It was an amazing day for our brand – our website crashing speaks to the awareness and enthusiasm that was generated from the content and we are thankful to the Brady clan for the support."
Screenshot via Facebook.
