Game-Day Pudding Works Well at Shea; Some Fans Grumble

Kozy Shack, maker of rice and chocolate pudding, is sponsoring the New York Mets, with tubs of the pudding being sold individually at Shea Stadium as well as being included in children’s meals. And the snacks are selling so well that Kozy Shack has begun developing a marketing division specifically to reach out to other stadiums, as well as to casinos and cruise lines.

Kozy Shack products have been available at the stadium for about a year, but the brand officially became “the official pudding of the New York Mets” just last week, writes The New York Times. The two companies are looking at a three-year deal beginning next year, which means the official pudding status would carry over to the new Citi Field in 2009. The company is conducting Free Pudding Day once a month throughout the summer at the stadium.

In addition to being sold at all high-traffic concession areas, the Kozy Shack name is on the stadium’s turnstiles and can be seen on the field’s video screen.

While the pudding is selling successfully, not all fans are thrilled. One compared the sponsorship to the way the general manager of the Mets had behaved recently - “Spineless, wishy-washy” - while another is quoted as saying, “Why would I want pudding right now? Walking into a game, that’s the last thing I would want.”