What the FTC Requires After Honey Baked Ham Names Kylie Kelce Its Holiday Ambassador
The Honey Baked Ham Company named podcast host Kylie Kelce its 2026 holiday brand ambassador on Oct. 19. Here is what the campaign covers and what FTC rules require.
On Oct. 19, 2026, The Honey Baked Ham Company named podcast host Kylie Kelce its brand ambassador for the 2026 holiday season. The company announced the appointment in a release datelined Atlanta and distributed by PR Newswire at 9:09 a.m. ET that day, alongside a national campaign titled 'Traditions That Bring Us Home.'
For business readers, the questions are what the company bought, how the relationship is disclosed, and which rules apply. The announcement answers the first only in part. The disclosure rules come from the Federal Trade Commission, which has set out when connections between advertisers and endorsers must be disclosed.
What the Holiday Campaign Includes
The campaign runs nationally in the United States across television, streaming, digital channels, social media and radio. It launched on Oct. 19 and runs through the holiday season, according to the release.
The product list is wide. It includes the signature Honey Baked Ham, which the company says is smoked for up to 24 hours and individually hand-glazed, along with a Bone-In Ham, premium turkey breasts, heat-and-serve sides and desserts. The sides named in the release are Double Cheddar Mac & Cheese, Maple Sweet Potato Souffle, rolls and Cinnamon Apples.
The media plan is paired with a direct sales path. Customers can order now at HoneyBaked.com and schedule an in-store pickup closer to Thanksgiving or the holidays. The full menu is available at participating U.S. locations and online.
The release identifies Kelce by her podcast, 'Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce.' Read as a plan, the announcement has three layers: a national media schedule, a named ambassador and a direct order path. Each layer raises a different question for a business reader, and the sections below cover them.
How the Partnership Is Framed
The release presents Kelce's connection to the brand as long-standing. Kelce says HoneyBaked has been part of her family's holiday traditions for years. She describes the Bone-In Ham as a centerpiece at her home, and says her late grandmother's Cinnamon Apples are still served in her memory. She also says that creating the campaign with a brand she genuinely loves was special to her.
Maegan Markee, the company's chief commercial officer, calls Kelce a natural fit for the brand and says her connection to it is authentic. Markee also describes Kelce as bringing a fresh, relatable perspective on how families host and gather today. She presents the launch as the start of a broader marketing transformation that honors heritage and finds new ways to connect with the next generation of customers.
Those remarks place the endorsement in the routine of hosting a holiday meal rather than in a list of product features. Adweek reports that Kelce proposed including both a HoneyBaked store in Broomall, a Philadelphia suburb, and her family story in the campaign, and that Markee agreed. The store is where Kelce shopped for holiday hams as a girl, according to the same report.
What the FTC Requires When an Endorser Has a Material Connection
In an Oct. 5, 2009 press release, the FTC announced final revised Guides Governing Endorsements and Testimonials, approved by a 4-0 Commission vote. The guides had last been updated in 1980. They require advertisers to disclose material connections with endorsers when consumers would not expect them. Payments and free products are the FTC's examples of such connections.
The release gives examples of how the rule applies. A blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is treated as endorsing it and must disclose the connection. An advertisement that cites research must disclose the connection between the advertiser and the research organization.
The guides explicitly cover celebrity endorsers. Both advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement. Celebrities also have a duty to disclose advertiser relationships outside traditional ads, such as on talk shows or social media. The release lists social media among the campaign's channels, which places that duty in play for this deal.
Two other points from the 2009 release bear on a holiday campaign. When an ad presents a consumer's experience as typical, the ad must clearly disclose the results consumers can generally expect. The revision also removed a safe harbor.
The release says decisions on blogger endorsements are made case by case.
What the Announcement Leaves Out
The release does not announce a fee, contract length or exclusivity term. The release also does not mention a production budget or say how Kelce is compensated. The company has described the campaign's scope and channels, but not what it will pay or how long the partnership will run.
Those gaps matter for readers trying to size the deal. Without a fee or term, the announcement shows what the campaign is and where it will run, but not what the company committed to spend or how long it expects the relationship to last.
What the Deal Shows About Celebrity Endorsements
The release ties the campaign to a holiday routine centered on gathering and cooking. Tim Ziga, the company's culinary director, says the best holiday meals are not about spending all day in the kitchen, and that the goal is getting everyone around the table. He says HoneyBaked has always made that part easier.
The HoneyBaked case shows the parts of a celebrity endorsement in one place: a named host, a family-tradition story, national channels and an online ordering link. The company's own description of its ham, smoked for up to 24 hours and hand-glazed, is a claim made by the advertiser. The 2009 FTC release says advertisers and endorsers may both be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement.
