PBR and league sponsor Matador Jerky said the new “Bullfighting 101” digital content series has been well received by fans. The series is one aspect of the deal rolled out earlier this year, and it attempts to showcase the techniques PBR’s Matador Jerky bullfighters use to keep riders safe once they dismount or are thrown off the bucking animals. Bullfighters are charged with circling the bull to help the rider escape, and one of the vignettes showed three bullfighters’ technique in gaining as much distance between the bull and the rider as possible once the rider dismounts. The series ran as TV features on CBS first before being pushed out on social media, and the Endeavor-owned PBR said that it garnered a reach of 11.8 million people this past season. The reach number is broken down into 10.1 million unique views on CBS and an additional 1.7 unique views among PBR’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. Jack Link’s Protein Snacks Integrated Marketing Manager Beka Dunham, whose company owns Matador, said, “What we’ve tried to focus on for all of our brands is these natural opportunities to truly be authentic in terms of letting them know that we have this great protein snack ... but in a way that is not just trying to shove it down their throat with an ad.” Other elements of the deal include having the Matador logo on the bullfighters' uniforms and other visibility at PBR elite series events, as well as retail activation.
