The goal was to stop at the Basketball Hall of Fame on the way to the 2020 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston last week. It was a great fit and not that far out of the way for myself and my colleague Scott Rosner; what could be a better way to kick off two days of sports business listening and networking right? However, the Hall was closed…for renovations. So, we tried the next best thing; heading north along I 95 and hitting another destination always passed but never entered; The Pez Museum and Gift Shop, and what we discovered there was a windfall of ideas and opportunity.
Maybe Pez is a little quaint and lost in the shuffle of big deal confection marketing these days. The little bricks in the collectable dispensers are still easily identifiable and a great holder of memories for those of a certain age when sugar consumption was probably more untracked. However even today young kids find the licensed dispensers pretty irresistible and the company, which makes all its candy right there in the factory/museum, has just enough licenses with companies ranging from Disney to Marvel to keep themselves vibrant and engaged in the candy world.
However, what excited and interested us was let’s say, the past…and the potential of the future around Pez and licensed sports opportunities. The museum has cases full of vintage dispensers and deals with teams in the past…NHL Zamboni’s and Stanley Cups…Bundesliga branded dispensers (the company is Germany based)…Pez football shaped college kits…NASCAR dispensers, and the one license that appears to go on, with Major League Baseball. 
While there are a host of great team specific pieces, there were none…nor have there ever been…any dispensers made with athlete likenesses. Lots of Star Wards characters, even an Elvis; but nowhere to be found is a Mike Trout, a Saquon Barkley, a Tom Brady or even a retired player like a Keith Hernandez. Now manufacturing plastic heads in volume is certainly not cheap, but the value in ancillary exposure…not just being first but also being exclusive in a time when collectibles and giveaways really help drive ticket sales…made the idea of doing a special Pez dispenser line (the heads can come on and off as well we found out) a pretty intriguing giveaway idea that a team, a league, even someone representing an athlete could jump all over.
The history of Pez and sports, as we found in going through the Museum, is pretty deep; there was even a Pez Baseball TV show in the 1960’s,and the ability to use social media to drive interest and value among Pezathlete or even celebrity heads is pretty strong as well if you select the right city, athlete/celebrity and event. The limited edition of any sports giveaway also drives a secondary collectable market which also benefits all. Heck you could even tie a cause to the giveaway for added exposure off of what has been done with Garden gnomes and the most asked for of giveaways, the bobblehead.
Pez dispensers are smaller, more useful and probably more versatile than any of the more popular dates, and they transcend every gender and age of fan. Are there licensing issues to be conquered? Yes. Is there a stigma in giving away all that sugar in a calorie conscious world? Maybe, but the little bricks are just a small part of the fun, and the shelf life of the dispenser are what makes the partnership valuable. Do you risk doing a giveaway with a brand young people may not know? Maybe slightly, but the look of the dispenser makes it distinctive, and a quick poll found that everyone asked…from six to sixty…knew of Pez.
Are Pez promos going to break the bank and fill thousands of distressed seats for some teams? Somewhat. Is a Pez promo worth looking at especially for those traditional sports with a slightly older demo? Yes. If I were Pez would I also be looking at esports as a way in? For sure.
Pez in Connecticut delivered more than expected with a high in business that was just as good as any one from sugar. Time to rejuvenate a partnership for those who are missing it; it will sell and get buzz for young and old.
