Olympic synchronized diving duo Kassidy Cook and Sarah Bacon partner with U.S. breakfast chain First Watch

The GIST: The gravy train keeps rolling for Olympic synchronized diving duo Kassidy Cook and Sarah Bacon. After successfully landing two food-related partnerships playing off their names before Paris 2024, the silver medalists announced a third yesterday, this time with U.S. breakfast chain First Watch. Coming in hot.

The campaign: First Watch kicked off an interactive Instagram campaign yesterday where followers have until September 3rd to tag the “Cook” to their “Bacon,” or the person they are most in “sync” with. The restaurant will then reward two lucky duos with free breakfast for a year.

The backstory: This is the third food-related campaign Cook and Bacon have ripped in the past two months, starting with the Minnesota Pork Board in July. Shortly after, Hormel also announced a partnership with the duo, before First Watch signed on this month.

• Parity — a matchmaker between sponsors and women athletes — connected the duo with all three companies. The brand said the pair is enjoying a “breakout summer” as sponsorship darlings thanks to their silver medal win, the rise of women’s sports, and a name combo destined to promote breakfast brands. The early bird gets the worm.

Zooming out: It’s no surprise that Cook and Bacon have been two of Parity’s most “in-demand” athletes this year — puns have proven favorable in marketing, and so has teaming up with Olympic women athletes thanks to explosive social media growth. It already pays to promote alongside the Games, but the Olympics are a windfall moment not just for media companies and advertisers.

• They are also a welcome brand opportunity for athletes themselves. On social media, rugby sevens (and TikTok) star Ilona Maher boasted a 12.07% engagement rate and gained 2.32M followers during the Games, a whopping 236% increase. In September, Maher will grace her first-ever Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover. Spinning bronze into gold.