Welcome to Marketing Morsels, a menu of delightful news items from the past week. Enjoy the assortment, from a Ryan Reynolds Mint Mobile stunt to a new beverage from Red Bull.
Morsel #1: Ryan Reynolds infuses Mint Mobile with AriZona tea style price savings (sort of)
A can of AriZona Iced Tea has been $0.99 since 1992—for 30 years. To communicate Mint Mobile’s commitment to similarly keeping its wireless prices at $15 per month, Ryan Reynolds appears in a new spot with AriZona founder Don Vultaggio in which he puts AriZona’s “non-inflationary tea technology” into the mobile carrier’s services … and metaphorically demonstrates by pouring a can of tea over a phone. AriZona’s new Super LXR Hero Hydration beverage, created in partnership with Marvel, also makes a cameo before Reynolds and Vultaggio inform viewers of the Mint Mobile x AriZona “starter pack” at Target—which customers must assemble themselves.
Morsel #2: Tide and the NFL want you to—for the love of all that is holy—wash that lucky jersey
A recent survey conducted by Procter & Gamble found that 73% of NFL fans who wear lucky jerseys during games believe that it gives their team a boost, and 1 in 4 haven’t washed it in a year or more. (52% won’t fess up about whether they wash it or not—so that number may be higher.) So Tide recruited a host of NFL players including Las Vegas Raiders’ Davante Adams, linebacker Clay Matthews, Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, and Pittsburgh Steelers’ Chase Claypool to get those jerseys clean with its Tide Hygienic Clean Heavy Duty 10x product. Those who sanitize their garments can enter to win autographed items, meetups with their favorite players and more by commenting on participating players’ social media posts.
Morsel #3: Halo Top Takes on the high-calorie PSL with a lighter alternative
Halo Top is challenging the notion that your pumpkin spice latte has to be 300 calories or more (see both Starbucks and Dunkin’s editions) by encouraging people to make their own using homemade coffee, nonfat milk and Halo Top Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream, for a total of 142 calories. To get the word out, the brand deployed food trucks bearing the words “Pumpkin Responsibly” to serve up the alternative beverage outside of popular coffee chains.
Morsel #4: Red Bull skips fall and commits to winter
Those not enamored by pumpkin spice and autumn vibes can skip straight to winter with Red Bull’s Winter Edition Fig Apple beverage, which will be rolled out beginning October 3. The brand teamed up with history-making speed skater and Red Bull athlete ambassador Maame Biney to promote the beverage.
Morsel #5: Jealously guard your pink Starburst with this pink safe
Many candy brands have debuted “share-size” packs of their products in recent years, but Starburst is bucking that trend with an “Un-Share” pack: A biometric safe that can only be opened by the owner’s fingerprint. The safe, which allows fans to secure their sweet treats, comes filled with Starburst’s most popular flavor—pink—making it effectively the most fortified version of its All-Pink packs that it’s been selling since 2017. Fans can enter to win one through pure selfishness: The website Starburst.com/AllForMe allows entrants to share what they love most about themselves for a shot at the pack.
Morsel #6: Reese’s Cups get stuffed with Reese’s Puffs
In a move that makes so much sense, it’s surprising that it hasn’t been done before, special edition Reese’s Big Cups will come stuffed with—not just peanut butter—but Reese’s Puffs cereal. The treats will hit shelves in November.
Morsel #7: Guitar Center and Southwest Airlines teach passengers how to play the ukulele
Guitar Center and Edelman PR teamed up with Southwest Airlines to surprise passengers headed to Honolulu with an in-flight ukulele lesson. The stunt aims to promote Guitar Center’s lessons and instructors, and how easy it can be to pick up a new instrument—like the Mitchell MU40 Soprano ukulele that each passenger was able to take home from the experience.
That said, social posts about the stunt also prompted a good deal of incredulity when users—and other brands—pointed out that a plane full of amateur ukulele players might not make for the most pleasant flight. To clarify, Southwest’s Twitter account added, “Don’t worry, y’all, everyone put their ukuleles away after 20 minutes since they had already mastered how to play.”
Morsel #8: Fireball wants people to say “F it” and enjoy their whiskey
Fireball Whisky has dropped its first-ever creative campaign called “Free Your Fire,” featuring several ads that invite consumers to say “F it” whenever they’re not feeling a dull work party or graduation. Its messaging, which celebrates party culture and drinking with reckless abandon, is a notable departure from other spirits brand messaging, which has lately favored a more temperate approach to drinking.
