Football star Marshawn Lynch has been synonymous with Skittles ever since cameras caught him eating his beloved “power pellets” on the sideline of a nationally televised 2011 game. So when Lynch’s Seattle Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl, Skittles understood it had a rare opportunity to seize a huge share of the conversation surrounding marketing’s biggest stage – and sell some more candy while doing it.

The brand signed Lynch to the first athlete endorsement deal in its history, and it announced the news on Super Bowl Media Day with a headline-grabbing sweetener: A limited-edition Skittles Seattle Mix that would be shared with media, influencers and some very lucky fans.

The story, shared initially via an ESPN exclusive, and then subsequently via Skittles and Lynch’s various social feeds and hundreds of news outlets who followed the story, claimed a huge chunk of the news media’s massive, annual “Super Bowl of Advertising” conversation, which is usually dominated by brands paying nearly $4 million for :30 of airtime.

Skittles didn't have an ad in the game, but it wound up earning a bigger share of the spotlight than most of the brands that did, with more than 400 articles and 850 million media impressions that culminated in 5,000 Skittles-mentioning tweets per minute following Lynch’s first-half touchdown.

In the end, however, Skittles earned a lot more than media. Sales increased 8% during the 4 weeks surrounding the Super Bowl.

The story about Marshawn’s deal with Skittles and the limited-edition Skittles Seattle Mix hit ESPN.com at 7:40 am on January 28th, and it was quickly echoed by social media posts from Skittles and Marshawn.

The news hit at precisely the moment a global media throng was gathering for Super Bowl Media Day, and within two hours it was on USA Today, NFL.com, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo!, Forbes, the Los Angeles Times and dozens of other outlets.

The brand distributed Seattle Mix packs on Radio Row and to news crews, so the packs quickly wound up on multiple ESPN programs, Fox Sports, the Today Show and other mass broadcast outlets.

Paid media was utilized to fan the flames in Seattle, where the brand placed Seattle-themed ads in local newspapers and websites to thank the fans and cheer on the team. Skittles also invested in promoted tweets to expand the campaign's social reach.

The program’s goal was to ensure the brand was top of mind if and when Marshawn starred in the game, and when he scored a first-half touchdown, there were more than 5,000 tweets per minute mentioning Skittles. Cameras even caught groundscrew members plucking Skittles off the field after the touchdown celebration.

The campaign netted more than 400 articles and 850 million earned impressions, and analytics firm Kontera declared Skittles one of the most “seen” brands online during the game, despite not having an ad.

Product shortages were reported throughout Seattle before and during the game, and individual packs of the limited-edition Seattle Mix sold for as much as $200 on eBay. (The program's charity efforts raised more than $23,000 for Lynch’s foundation.)

But while buzz is nice, sales are better: The campaign boosted national Skittles sales 8% in the 4 weeks including the game vs. the year-earlier period.