Sam's Club kicked off football season by hosting exclusive overlays to national campaigns from Coca-Cola Co.'s Coke Zero and Mars Inc.'s Skittles.Running Sept. 1 through Nov. 3, an exclusive "Ultimate Coke Zero ESPN College GameDay Experience" sweepstakes awards one grand-prize trip to meet the hosts of ESPN College GameDay and tour the show's set in January, along with a $2,000 gift card. Consumers enter on a promotional webpage operated by Pleasant Ridge, MI-based HelloWorld. On samsclub.com, a carousel ad carrying a co-branded video starring College GameDay sports analyst David Pollack and a banner ad both touted the sweeps. Coca-Cola’s national promotion awards a similar experience with the sports show, which the manufacturer sponsors.Meanwhile, an exclusive "Skittles Helmet" sweeps awards a branded, helmet shaped candy bowl to 500 winners. Consumers enter from Aug. 25 through Oct. 31 by taking a picture of a Skittles SKU and texting the image along with the word "gameday" to a promotional number. Custom pallet displays tout the sweeps and showcase the candy bowl. A carousel ad and promotional page on the retailer’s website supported. Winners receive a code redeemable on a mobile-optimized promotional website (skittleshelmet.com).The sweeps is an overlay to the brand's national "Make Game Day Awesomer" promotion, which awards the same bowls plus footballs, coasters, aprons and other prizes to thousands of consumers who enter by texting photos of Skittles or Starburst from Aug. 1 to Nov. 3. Skittles became a National Football League sponsor in May shortly after signing Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch for an endorsement deal.In other seasonal activity, a display ad on the samsclub.com home page highlights Skittles and other Mars brands as well as Coke, Kraft Foods Group and Tyson Foods under a "Heads up, tailgaters" message. The ad links to a samsclub.com page touting both sweeps and delivering videos of college football-themed recipes. The videos star chef and cookbook author Ray Lampe and former Master Chef finalist Beth Peterson. Sam's Club hosted similar content on its website last year. (See "Sam's Club Gets …" in Related Articles.)In stores, national "Tailgate Central" displays from InnoWare Paper's ArtStyle add to the seasonal theme. Illinois stores also host spectaculars from MillerCoors' Miller Lite activating the brand's sponsorship of the Chicago Bears.