Welcome to Marketing Morsels, a menu of delightful (and in this case, tragic) news items from the past week. Enjoy the assortment!
Morsel #1: RIP, Choco Taco
Klondike and parent company Unilever announced this week that they are discontinuing the beloved Choco Taco following “an unprecedented spike in demand across our portfolio” that resulted in the brand having to discontinue some products to meet demand for its others, including Klondike Cones, Shakes, Sandwiches and Bars. Some of the social responses from the likes of Stephen Colbert and Stephen King have been pretty entertaining, and The Daily Show did a whole segment questioning whether people really loved it that much in the first place. But following the public outcry, more news is on the horizon for the 912 remaining Choco Tacos…
Morsel #2: Lids works with creators to ‘make them look’
Sports apparel brand Lids and agency Chemistry have launched the “Make Them Look” campaign, in which Atlanta creators who focus on sports and streetwear become the voice of the brand and the city. Atlanta hip-hop photographer Cam Kirk photographed creators, stylists, sneakerheads and content creators Charlie Chuck, Kayla G., Kaylyn and Ranen Turner, as well as creative director and stylist Zoe Dupree (shown above) for the campaign, which launched alongside behind-the-scenes stories of its creation.
Morsel #3: Corn Nuts challenges the constitution of your teeth
@sammyarriaga Teamed up w/ @cornnutsbrand to help find the The Official Crunch of ???????? Use the sound below & let me hear your best ????CRUNCH???? Full rules in bio #ad ♬ Crunch Contest – Corn Nuts® Brand
All Corn Nuts are crunchy, but not every Corn Nut is as crunchy as its brethren. For those unafraid of cracking a tooth, Corn Nuts has teamed up with musical artist Sammy Arriaga to find the absolute crunchiest Corn Nut. The brand is challenging people to record themselves munching on the snacks, and the winner with the most powerful crunch will be featured on a themed soundtrack from the artist and will snag tickets to one of his concerts, as well as $5,000 in cash.
Morsel #4: Hey, ma! I’m on a can!
Hard iced tea brand Twisted Tea is breaking into the NFT space and using the opportunity to celebrate fans. In partnership with Web3 platform Sesame3, which allows NFT purchases with credit cards, the brand is giving away its first ever NFT, and the winner’s photo will also appear on up to 100 million cans—a stunt it has pulled off independently of the NFT space many times before. Entrants are challenged to submit a photo and tell the brand why they are can-worthy.
Morsel #5: Michelob Ultra Pure Gold Does the Rumba with Maluma
Michelob Ultra Pure Gold has teamed up with music artist and actor Maluma on a limited edition can inspired by the artist’s song “Rumba (Puro Oro Anthem).” Fans can also take a photo of the can and post it on their social accounts with the hashtags #MalumaYPuroOro and #Sweepstakes for a shot at VIP tickets to the Latin music festival Rumbazo, held on Sept. 10.
Morsel #6: Have your cheesecake and smell it, too
Junior’s Cheesecake has joined forces with candle brand Literie to create a strawberry cheesecake-scented candle whose aroma features “a hint of strawberry, notes of vanilla and a wink of cream cheese.” Like Junior’s, Literie is New York-based, and all of its scents reflect city life—less in the garbage-on-the-street-corner sense and more in the “afternoon in Central Park” or “28th Street flower market” sense.
