Not happy with the free advertising, eh?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield did a little unintended promo for Zyn nicotine pouches when he was spotted on the sidelines throwing a pouch in during this past Monday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Baker Mayfield popping a ZYN on the sideline mid game 😂 pic.twitter.com/IELMpm7wdd
— GhettoGronk (@TheGhettoGronk) October 22, 2024
You’re probably familiar with Zyn by now, because the little flavored pouches have exploded in popularity over the past couple of years as a nicotine alternative to smoking or vaping. But apparently, the maker of Zyn wasn’t happy that Baker was popping them in primetime.
Zyn’s parent company Swedish Match issued a statement to TMZ saying that while they appreciate Baker being a fan of the product, they’d rather he not do it on national TV:
“Swedish Match appreciates its loyal consumers and encourages them not to show the product in any situation where someone under 21 years old could see it. The product is marketed only to current nicotine consumers 21 years old and over as a better alternative to continued smoking and other traditional tobacco products.”
Now, of course nobody under 21 should be using Zyn. But it wasn’t like Baker popped one in the middle of an interview when he knew the camera was on him. He was sitting on the bench and they just happened to show him on television.
But aside from the folks at Zyn frowning on Baker popping a pouch on the sideline, his use of Zyn during a game could actually be a violation of NFL rules too.
The league bans the use of tobacco products during games. And while Zyn doesn’t contain tobacco, it’s regulated as a tobacco product and contains nicotine derived from tobacco. So the NFL could decide to clarify their rules and just ban the pouches altogether, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
It would be a little ironic if they got their panties in a wad over Zyn when the league is sponsored by Bud Light as the “official beer of the NFL.” But then again, when has the NFL really done anything that’s made sense?
One thing me and Baker have in common is we both rip zyns at work https://t.co/Dd90NmVkV9
— Corporate Dudes (@corporatedudes) October 22, 2024
