Coca-Cola and OREO became the latest iconic food and beverage brands to collaborate on two new, limited-edition food and beverage products inspired by each other.
The new items, which will be available for a limited time starting on Sept. 9, include:
- OREO Coca-Cola Sandwich Cookie: An OREO cookie featuring one classic chocolate side with Coca-Cola syrup and popping candies and one red-colored Golden OREO side with an embossed Coca-Cola logo, all stuffed with a smooth, white-colored cream studded with red edible glitter.
- Coca-Cola OREO Zero Sugar: A fusion of Coca-Cola taste with flavor hints inspired by OREO cookies.
A frozen variation of Coca-Cola OREO Zero Sugar will also be available at participating McDonald’s and 7-Eleven locations in select markets. A merchandise tie-in featuring apparel, socks, a tote bag, a cosmetics bag, drinkware, and notebooks will also debut at Forever 21.
“OREO has emerged as one of the world’s most beloved Gen Z brands by continually pushing the boundaries of flavor innovation that affirm its credentials as the world’s favorite cookie,” said Oana Vlad, global VP OF brand strategy at The Coca‑Cola Co., in a statement.
— Snackolator (@snackolator) August 13, 2024OREO teamed up with Coca-Cola to create an @Oreo flavored co*ke Zero and a @CocaCola flavored OREO dropping Sept 9th.
This might be the collaboration we never knew we needed and while I can't understand how an OREO co*ke could work, I must try it.
Are you going to try either one? pic.twitter.com/IdCwFwPk4p
The collaboration takes a page from the “drop culture” trend pioneered in the streetwear and sneaker category in the U.S. by Supreme and Nike. Hyped on social media, the limited-edition apparel and footwear releases often sell out immediately. The collaborations increasingly involved luxury houses and rappers, and in recent years, they have extended to entertainment properties such as classic movies as well as food and other CPG brands. Crocs has collaborated in recent years on footwear collections with Taco Bell, Hidden Valley Ranch, Pringles, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald’s, and Peeps.
The potential for collaborations between food brands first became evident when Kraft partnered with Brooklyn-based Van Leeuwen in 2021 to produce an ice cream version of its signature Macaroni & Cheese. The ice cream found its way to Walmart shelves the following year. Since then, many limited-edition food and beverage collaborations have arrived.
As noted by Food & Wine, past OREO collaborations have included OREO Cookie Papa Bites at Papa Johns, Auntie Anne’s OREO-Topped Nuggets, Sour Patch Kids OREOs, and Ritz Cracker OREOs. Coca-Cola has partnered with fashion brands such as High Snobiety, Kith, and Puma.
“Brand collaborations are growing in popularity because they’re a royalty-free way for brands to reach new but relevant audiences,” Claudine Harris, CEO of brand matchmaking company Miai, recently told Food Institute.
Odder pairings often go viral on social media to both garner attention and help the limited-edition ranges quickly sell out.
Social media has “shifted the power dynamic between brands and consumers” to inspire collaborations, Jenna Drenten, a marketing professor at Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business, recently told BBC. She explained, “Consumers have a lot more opportunity to engage and interact with brands to tell them what they want — to have conversations.”
She also believes the wide range of unique collaborations across products reflects an “attention deficit” in today’s digital consumer culture. Drenten said, “Consumers get very bored with the existing offerings on the market. Having unexpected, unconventional collaborations between brands is a way to revitalize the brand quickly, without a lot of effort on the brand side.”
Some recent food collaborations gaining media coverage include:
- Hidden Valley Ranch so far this year has collaborated with Cheez-It on a salad dressing and crackers, as well as with Burt’s Bees on a lip balm.
- To mark National Ice Cream Day, Ore-Ida this past July partnered with GoodPop on a Fudge n’ Vanilla French Fry Pop that wraps a vanilla oatmilk frozen base in a chocolate fudge shell rolled in crispy potato bits.
- McCormick & Co.’s French’s Mustard last year partnered to develop a mustard-flavored Skittles range to celebrate National Mustard Day.
- Kraft Dinner (KD) partnered with KFC to bring KD KFC Original Recipe Flavor Mac & Cheese to grocers in Canada this summer, while a KD Mac & Cheese Chicken Sandwich and the KFC x KD Mac & Cheese Snacker Wrap have arrived at KFC restaurants across the country.
