Kum & Go makes Kyle Scheele the real meal from TikTok with Red Bull
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published November 20 and updated on November 24 to include a statement from Kum & Go acknowledging its part in the social media stunt.
As a prank, Kyle Scheele worked with friends to create a cutscene of himself that jammed with a fake “Kyle Scheele Meal” promotional pizza. He then placed it inside his local gas station in Springfield, Missouri.
He wants to see how long it will take before the store starts and gets rid of most of it. After all, the meal wasn’t real.
That’s how he shows his stunt in a video is currently going viral on TikTok. Now, “Kyle Scheele Meale” is real and will benefit charity, convenience store chain Kum & Go confirmed.
Meal includes 12 oz. Red Bull and a pizza, “just two pieces of pizza hit directly”, Scheele said in a meal announcement video.
Matt Riezman, Kum & Go’s director of brand marketing, confirmed to USA TODAY that some of the proceeds from the meal will benefit No Kid Hungry, a nonprofit dedicated to eradicating child hunger. em.
“Our associations were delighted to see so many excited fans coming in to take pictures with the cut and buy their own Scheele Meale,” added Riezman.
However, in contrast to the way Scheele presented the joke, Riezman said the sequence is related to the first video. The chain issued “advance warning to our store team in Springfield prior to the first video to ensure the safety of our Associates and to avoid disruption to in-store operations.”
Initial efforts by Springfield News-Leader, part of the USA TODAY Network, to reach Scheele were unsuccessful. In a statement to Adweek about the publicity stunt“It’s been an absolute honor to work with Kum & Go on such a ridiculously exciting project,” said Scheele.
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Scheele, a Springfield author and motivational speaker, previously said his friends helped him create a life-size cardboard that he dropped in the Springfield Kum & store. Go. It advertised the Kyle Scheele meal, which – at the time – was made up of.
The collage and joke became so popular that Scheele said someone called and told him, “There’s a line here waiting to take a selfie with your sign.”
Before Kum & Go announced the meal, many famous companies also tried to get in on the action.
Scheele said Uno, Nerf, Adobe and the Denver Nuggets were just a few who threw hats into the inner ring.
Scheele said Kum & Go said, “What about a pizza?”
“It’s crazy it could work,” Scheele said he thought.
Most of the brand accounts that jumped into conflict didn’t come naturally with food connections, until Red Bull came out with the post, “Is it really a meal without wings?”
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything you have done this week,” Scheele said. “Without this incredible base of crazy, ridiculous support, I don’t think any of this would have happened.”
Contribution: Marina Pitofsky, USA TODAY