Chicago pope craze: From cookies to Italian beef, businesses cash in on papal pride

Chicago pope craze: From cookies to Italian beef, everyones getting a taste

From cookies to Italian beef, the Chicago pope is beyond viral status.

CHICAGO - First came the memes—now comes the merch! With excitement surrounding Pope Leo XIV’s Windy City roots, brands are turning papal fever into marketing gold.

From swag to sweets, restaurants, bakeries, and brands are cashing in on the Chicago connection. After all, it could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

What we know:

From the North to the South Side, and the city to the suburbs, the new pope is all the rage.

"People are going crazy for them. It’s just nonstop," said Phoebe Casey, baker, Bennison’s Bakery.

For Bennison’s Bakery in Evanston, it was a piece of cake to roll out special edition cookies.

"We’ve been making them all day and we’ve already sold over 200 and we’ve got about 90 on order for tomorrow—for orders alone," Casey said.

The sweet treats feature Pope Leo, of course, and are finished off with white, gold, and red sprinkles—paying tribute to the papacy.

Just hours after launching, the cookies were nearly sold out, but employees are hard at work restocking for the weekend.

"It's always great to see people enjoy your stuff, that's my favorite part," Casey said.

Portillo's is also dipping into the fun by naming a sandwich in the new pontiff's honor.

"You know, it's almost a little bit of divine fate that this happened in May, which happens to be National Italian Beef Month," said Sara Wirth, director of PR and Communications, Portillo’s. "News hit that the new pope is from Chicago and immediately our social media feeds, our emails, even our phones started ringing."

Dubbed ‘The Leo,’ it remains faithful to the restaurant's signature Italian beef and is baptized in gravy with what the restaurant is calling the ‘holy trinity of peppers’—sweet, hot, or a combo of both.

"It is slow roasted for four hours. We thinly slice it ourselves. It's served on amazing French bread that we bake in-house," Wirth said.

Up north, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee unveiled two Pope Leo XIV bobbleheads for $30 each.

Back in Chicago, Obvious Shirts has released an array of catchy tees.

"Viral moments are what they like to call ‘trend-jacking,’" said Heidi Hageman, president, H2 Public Relations.

Hageman shares that ‘trend-jacking’ has been gaining momentum for nearly a decade.

"Traditionally, they would follow retail calendars, focusing on key purchasing moments like Black Friday or Mother's Day or the holidays. But now, really any sort of moment can be a key opportunity for a brand to take the spotlight," Hageman said.

Plus, she says, there's no better time than now to see it as a blessing for business.

"You have to act and you have act fast," Hageman said. "Twenty-four to 48 hours you have, and even then, it's almost too late. So the sooner the better, but you obviously have to be thoughtful and deliberate when you do this."

The Chicago Sun-Times even has new merch hot off the presses, including tee shirts, coffee mugs, and tote bags.