It’s common knowledge that Santa has his sleigh, but did you also know that former Seattle Seahawks star Marshawn Lynch has a Treasure Truck? Well, it belongs to Jeff Bezos if you want to be specific. The retired NFL star shifted into his trademark “Beast Mode” on Saturday (and we do mean trademark), driving Amazon’s Treasure Truck to his old Seahawks stomping grounds, Seattle’s CenturyLink Field. The truck, which launched earlier this year, motors about the city with deep-discounted items that people can buy through the Amazon app.
Lynch wasn’t precisely Santa though, as that jolly elf drops off your gifts for free. The mobile Amazon retail store had many items to buy, including special Beast Mode-skinned Amazon Echos and Beast Mode hats for $140, or $40 off the sticker price. Lynch, wearing an Amazon “blaze orange” parka, was happily meeting with the many Seahawks fan, passing out his favorite candy (Skittles) to the kids. He played for the team for 6 seasons, leading them to the 2014 Super Bowl title.
GeekWire mentions that the Saturday promotion came just after the Seattle-based juggernaut released a new Amazon Skill for Echo owners. Called “Marshawn Lynch’s BeastMode,” you can say things to it as if you were speaking to Lynch. If you say to it “Alexa, will the Seahawks win?,” Alexa will respond with Lynch’s voice.
Lynch has a Beast Mode store just around the corner from CenturyLink Field, and this Treasure Truck stint is his second partnership with Amazon this year. He opened up a new online site in April to sell his own line of Beast Mode clothing as part of the Amazon “Exclusives” line. Despite his success, the former running back seems to march to his own drummer — he still drives a 1986 Civic.
This is not Amazon’s first attempt to move past the digital realm and into the physical world. Amazon’s Bookstore, Fresh, Flex, and other innovations have all used The Emerald City as a beta test market.