• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, April 2, 2025

Zebra Pen, a small Japanese-owned brand with a loyal following in the journaling world, wants to stand out in an industry dominated by the likes of Bic, Sharpie, and Pilot. So it’s turning to an unlikely awareness-building partner: fortune cookies.

In a just-launched partnership with OpenFortune, the media company that places branded messages inside fortune cookies, Zebra Pen is distributing hundreds of thousands of cookies to Asian restaurants across New Jersey. Inside, diners will find clever, co-branded messages like, “The future is unwritten. But this pen is ready.” Each slip also includes an image of a Zebra pen.

The goal? Awareness. "We know we’re not a top-of-mind brand," says Ken Newman, vice president of marketing at the Edison, New Jersey-based Zebra Pen. "So, we look for creative ways to stretch our budget and reach new audiences. This checks all the boxes."

The campaign aims to tap into milestone moments: birth certificates, marriage licenses, first apartments, and even college signing days. It’s part of Zebra’s broader effort to position its products not just as tools but as companions to life’s meaningful signatures.

"People don’t just use pens anymore to get through a day -- they use them to commemorate something," Newman says. "That idea of a signature moment was important to us."

Self-expression is also key. The company just announced the return of the #PathToSelfExpression Songwriting Sweepstakes, encouraging people to perform their songs on Instagram. The winner gets a $5,000 cash prize and plenty of new pens to keep writing.

Still, the fortune cookie strategy is quirky. Fortune cookie messages are rarely seen near a cash register, let alone a stationery aisle or endcap. But that’s the point, says Newman. "We want to zig when others zag. We’re not shouting in a sea of back-to-school ads. This is about catching people off guard, making them smile, and hopefully, sticking in their mind."

OpenFortune’s model supports that approach. With distribution to more than 47,000 restaurants nationwide, the company says it can get brand messages in front of as many as 135 million consumers per month. And while Zebra’s campaign is limited to New Jersey for now, the partnership is planned as a multiyear effort.

Newman is realistic. The cookies won’t drive immediate sales. Instead, the company will look for social media mentions, PR buzz, and long-tail shifts in brand consideration. "This is classic top-of-the-funnel marketing," he tells Marketing Daily. "We just want to be on the radar when people are ready to buy."

That might happen in a dorm room near Seton Hall University, where Zebra plans targeted placement. Or it might happen when someone tucks a fortune into their wallet. Either way, Zebra Pen hopes for a bit of magic -- and a little ink -- in every cookie.