Just Born, Inc.'s MIKE AND IKE® brand has renewed its esports sponsorship with Dignitas — the esports vertical of New Meta Entertainment, Inc. — for a further five years, the companies announced Monday. The renewal, first struck in July 2022 as Dignitas's inaugural Fortnite-focused brand partnership, is accompanied by a national activation campaign branded "We Got'chew™" that spans live bootcamp events, community tournaments, and a sweepstakes awarding two fans an all-expenses-paid trip to Fortnite Worlds.
Five Years of Brand Integration
The original deal gave MIKE AND IKE® a dedicated lounge inside the Dignitas Fortnite House and co-billing on the 2023 Dignitas Fan Fest in Philadelphia. Over the subsequent four years the candy brand accumulated what the companies describe as billions of impressions within the Fortnite ecosystem, activated at more than 10 major gaming events, and earned a nomination for UEFN Map of the Year through a collaboration on Bugha's Endgame. Dignitas and Just Born both characterise MIKE AND IKE® as the top non-endemic brand — meaning a brand that originates outside of gaming — inside the Fortnite competitive space, a positioning that speaks to the growing appetite among packaged-food marketers for esports sponsorships as a youth-skewing alternative to legacy broadcast.
Campaign Events and Mechanics
The "We Got'chew™" campaign centres on three activations. First, a two-day Flavor Brawl Bootcamp at the University of Texas at Dallas's Comet LANding Center on August 8, 2026, will pair amateur Fortnite players with Dignitas pro coaches in a structured learning format — the kind of in-person, brand-anchored experiential activation that candy and snack companies have increasingly deployed to build loyalty with younger demographics. Second, DIGFort Community Tournaments powered by MIKE AND IKE® will run through September, culminating in a grand-finals watch party ahead of the FNCS Worlds dates of September 26–27. Third, the flagship MIKE AND IKE® Presents Flavor Brawl tournament in October will be streamed live on creator AussieAntics's Twitch channel with custom branded UEFN map integrations.
On the consumer-prize side, five participants will receive co-branded MIKE AND IKE® product and Dignitas merchandise through a standard giveaway, while the Flavor Brawl Sweepstakes will send two winners, equipped with POV cameras, to Fortnite Worlds.
Strategic Read for Candy Marketers
For the broader confectionery and food and beverage marketing community, the renewal illustrates a maturing template: a heritage candy brand achieving measurable reach and cultural relevance inside a digital sports property without the cost structure of a traditional stadium or broadcast deal. Jacob Clements, VP of Partnerships at Dignitas, said the campaign represents "the pinnacle of our shared vision to super-serve our fans through high-quality competitive events and deeply integrated, in-person experiences." Deb Turoczy, Senior Manager of Marketing Activations at Just Born, framed the milestone as evidence of a durable brand-building strategy rather than a one-off activation.
Just Born is a privately held Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based confectionery manufacturer whose portfolio also includes Peeps and Hot Tamales. Deal financial terms were not disclosed.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
