• by Danielle Oster , August 14, 2024

Coca-Cola and Oreo are officially “Besties” with a new collaboration marking the latest Coca-Cola’s Creations release.

The partnership involves a pair of limited releases combining Coca-Cola with the Mondelez cookie sandwich brand: Coca-Cola Oreo Zero Sugar, combining Coca-Cola flavor with hints of Oreo cookie; and Oreo Coca-Cola Sandwich Cookie, which features two cookies combining chocolate and Coca-Cola flavors, and a white creme filling studded with red, edible glitter.

“We took careful steps to ensure we delivered the Oreo experience in a Coca-Cola [beverage], and vice versa,” Oana Vlad, Coca-Cola Company vice president, brand strategy, said in a statement. “Both products went through several iterations… At the end of day, our mutual commitment to product quality and technical excellence — and our willingness to have fun and work together as one team — made this possible.”

Alongside the release of the new products, Coca-Cola will roll out complementary digital and real-world experiences. Packaging for the products will direct consumers to scan a QR code to activate a “Bestie Mode” experience allowing them to merge musical tastes to create custom Spotify playlists commemorating their friendships. Experiential marketing components will bring “Bestie Mode” to physical life as well, through live experiences such as Ferris wheel takeovers, and the opportunity to create matching temporary tattoos.

The release is the latest in the Coca-Cola Creations platform, which seeks to attach the Coca-Cola brand to Gen Z passion areas like music, gaming, pop culture, sports, and technology.

At the same time, the “Bestie” release breaks some new ground, and is the largest Creations partnership so far. Coca-Cola Zero Sugar will launch in stores beginning next month across 35 markets worldwide, including the U.S., Brazil, Canada, China, and Mexico. A frozen version of the new flavor will also be available at participating 7-Eleven locations in select markets.

The release is the Creations’ platform’s first food partnership, and will be supported by its first TV commercial. It’s also the first time the platform is attempting to put a new spin on flavors consumers already are familiar with, rather than spin out entirely novel creations.

In a statement, Vlad said Coca-Cola  was drawn to Oreo as a partner due to the brand’s recent history of playful pop culture integration, seasonal flavor innovations, and attention-grabbing collaborations, contributing to its popularity with a younger target audience.”“Creations, to date, has brought fantasy flavors to consumers,” she added. “But in this case, people have a very distinctive notion and mental benchmark of what Coca-Cola and Oreo cookies taste like. So, we were challenged with delivering an experience that will delight fans of both brands.”

Previous Coca-Cola Creations releases this year have included the launch of Wozzaah Zero Sugar in May ahead of Africa Day, -- the annual holiday on May 25 celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the Organization of African Unity – and the K-Pop themed K Wave Zero Sugar release back in February.