It all started with an innocent – albeit revolting – TikTok video.
In the viral video, posted October 1, Kentucky Wildcats Quarterback Will Levis squirts some Hellmann’s mayonnaise into his coffee and drinks it. The video is captioned, “I have a very sophisticated pallet.”
@w.lev I have a very sophisticated pallet. @omgiaaa #fyp #TakeTheDayOffChallenge #BenefitOfBrows
♬ original sound - Will Levis
But instead of Hellmann’s, Duke's Mayonnaise was first to respond to Levis’ video.
Kentucky is undefeated after putting mayonnaise in their coffee.
— Duke's Mayo Bowl (@DukesMayoBowl) October 3, 2021
Please stop tagging us. That's not mayo. https://t.co/bQn4mKouA7
— Duke's Mayo Bowl (@DukesMayoBowl) October 1, 2021
Alyssa, let us know where to deliver the mayo… https://t.co/OeOTI87i1E
— Duke's Mayo Bowl (@DukesMayoBowl) October 3, 2021
Good morning. pic.twitter.com/7mCRADLFDL
— Duke's Mayo Bowl (@DukesMayoBowl) October 5, 2021
— Duke's Mayo Bowl (@DukesMayoBowl) October 6, 2021
Alyssa Lang, a reporter for the SEC Network and co-host of Out of Pocket, alongside Andraya Carter, made a bet that she would drink coffee with Duke’s Mayonnaise if the Kentucky Wildcats beat the Florida Gators. Unfortunately for Lang, the Wildcats won. She stayed true to her word and actually drank the concoction during Wednesday night’s episode of Out of Pocket.
Another satisfied customer? pic.twitter.com/RMCeZhk5TJ
— Duke's Mayo Bowl (@DukesMayoBowl) October 6, 2021
Hellmann’s didn’t actually wake up and smell the mayo coffee until Thursday, when it posted a tweet without context about how consumers should try adding the condiment to their java.
Mayo in your coffee.
— Hellmann's (@Hellmanns) October 7, 2021
That’s it, that’s the tweet.
Hellmann’s tweet quickly got attention, even grossing-out legendary singer Dionne Warwick so much that she blocked the brand on Twitter.
It took me 40 minutes to remember how to do this. pic.twitter.com/sOXLEa5SNc
— Dionne Warwick (@dionnewarwick) October 7, 2021
To those asking why… They want us to put mayonnaise in our coffee. I won’t tolerate it. https://t.co/JbZUcHLjBc
— Dionne Warwick (@dionnewarwick) October 7, 2021
Duke’s Mayonnaise inserted itself into the conversation, reminding Twitter users that it was first with the jokes.
Guess you can say their content is....expired.
— Duke's Mayo Bowl (@DukesMayoBowl) October 7, 2021
��
Hellmann's then appeared to make fun of Duke's, comparing the engagement its initial tweet about mayo in coffee got in relation to Hellmann's.
�� https://t.co/tZuyU0L4Dq pic.twitter.com/4TCqOLcApP
— Duke's Mayo Bowl (@DukesMayoBowl) October 7, 2021
At this point, Levis took notice of the kerfuffle he had caused between the two brands and tweeted about it.
Creating beef between mayonnaise companies was not necessarily on my to-do list this week. https://t.co/sHW6ufccyc
— Will Levis (@will_levis) October 7, 2021
Hellmann’s has since posted several tweets about the matter, even sharing videos of more people trying the mix out.
Nope, that wasn’t a typo.
— Hellmann's (@Hellmanns) October 7, 2021
Mayo in your coffee.
It’s called having a sophisticated pallet.
The benefits of putting mayo in your coffee include:
— Hellmann's (@Hellmanns) October 7, 2021
-mayo in your coffee
-coffee in your mayo
Creating beef between mayonnaise companies was not necessarily on my to-do list this week. https://t.co/sHW6ufccyc
— Will Levis (@will_levis) October 7, 2021
“Although we don’t necessarily agree with all of Will’s food choices, we do believe that the only mayo is Duke’s mayo,” Rebecca Lupesco, brand manager of “mayohem” at Duke’s Mayonnaise, told PRWeek via email. “We’re also getting intimate with the college football world now that we sponsor the Duke’s Mayo Bowl – and mayo in coffee is not the weirdest thing we’ve seen lately.”
Lupesco said, going forward, Duke’s wants to introduce Levis to its mayonnaise, especially now that he’s playing in the SEC.
She added that Hellmann’s was “unfashionably late to this party, but we’re just happy they showed up.”
