‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ Promotion Returns for 2024 Season

August 26, 2024

The viral “Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon” promotion by the Iowa Pork Producers Association involving Iowa State Cyclone football players is back for the 2024 season, with more students joining the cast. The first in a series of episodic videos featuring Myles Purchase, Tyler Moore, Tommy Hamann and Caleb Bacon launched Monday, August 26. The players have renewed a NIL (name, image, likeness) agreement with the Iowa Pork Producers Association to encourage people to, well, purchase more ham and bacon.

The campaign debuted in September 2023 and quickly went viral across social media, earning millions of views and gaining widespread national attention. The Sports Business Journal named the partnership between Iowa Pork and Iowa State players the “Best NIL Deal of 2023”. Cyclones Alec Cook and Zach Lovett were later added to the campaign and return this year.  

“The Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon promotion exceeded beyond our wildest dreams last year and we’re thrilled to partner with these student-athletes once again,” said Matt Gent, a pig farmer from Wellman, Iowa who also serves as president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association. “This campaign is such a fun way to encourage people to buy pork, bring some more recognition to these players, and to provide meals to families in need.”

One change to this year’s promotion is Tommy Hamann’s decision to leave the Iowa State football program and focus on his engineering degree. The video episode released today, “Goodbye, Tommy” shows Hamann bidding farewell to the group, leaving Purchase, Moore, Bacon, Cook and Lovett wondering what happens next.

In a series of videos to be released every Monday at 10 a.m. for the next seven weeks, several other Cyclone students will participate in tryouts for the campaign to see if they fit into the ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ mantra. The episodic series will conclude on Monday, October 7, just in time to celebrate National Pork Month, aka “Porktober”.

In conjunction with the NIL partnership, the Iowa Pork Producers Association will donate $1,000 worth of pork to a food pantry chosen by every student that appears in the ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ videos. The donations from the “Goodbye, Tommy” video will go to:   

  • Food Bank of the Rockies in Denver, Colo., in the name of Myles Purchase
  • DMARC in Des Moines, Iowa, in the name of Tyler Moore
  • Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners in Plymouth, Minn., in the name of Tommy Hamann
  • Lake Mills Food Shelf in Lake Mills, Iowa, in the name of Caleb Bacon
  • Food Bank for the Heartland in Omaha, Neb., in the name of Alec Cook
  • Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, in the name of Zach Lovett

The Iowa Pork Producers Association donated a total of $13,000 worth of pork to those students’ food pantries of choice last year.

Although none of the players in the initial photo were widely known a year ago, that quickly changed as ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ skyrocketed across social media, local news, sports talk radio, and prominent national outlets like USA Today and ESPN.

“Since we did the first ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ photo almost a year ago, there’s a lot more publicity to all our names and I feel like we’re mainly known for that moment,” Caleb Bacon said. “Anytime that I mention my last name to someone, that’s the first thing they bring up.”

However, Caleb Bacon’s on-field performances also speak volumes. The Lake Mills, Iowa native is a former walk-on to the Cyclone football team who earned a scholarship following a strong sophomore season and is now one of the team’s leaders.

Bacon will wear jersey number 26 this football season in honor of former Cyclone wide receiver Jack Whitver who is battling brain cancer. The ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ photos and videos were shot prior to the jersey switch.

The Iowa Pork Producers Association worked with We Will Collective to arrange the NIL deals with Cyclone students.

"We are thrilled to continue to partner with Iowa Pork on this campaign,” said Brent Blum, executive director of We Will Collective. “The feedback this has received for our entire state and the work of the pork producers has been incredible and we are grateful to show the positive impact of NIL through this effort."

The ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ videos can be found on the Iowa Pork Producers Association’s Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube channels.