Get marketing news you’ll actually want to read
Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.
It was the best of collabs, it was the worst of collabs.
This year, the trend of pairing one brand with another, no matter how nonsensical, did not seem to let up. Perhaps that’s because it draws media attention? Overlooking our role in this nonsense, here are some of the brand x brand moments that made us grin (and groan) this year.
- Just when we thought we were safe, Heinz and Absolut brought their vodka pasta sauce back for the second year in a row. Carbone is not shaking.
- Not to be outdone, Taco Bell introduced the Big Cheez-It this year.
- Where do you go after the cheese martini? Jewelry, apparently. Velveeta and George The Jeweler created a 14-karat gold lip cuff designed to look like a drip of cheese, for those who want to spend $70 to look like they need a napkin.
- Gap teamed up with Cult Gaia to make a clothing line that promised to be “a representation of feminine strength.” We’re still not sure that an asymmetrical jean jacket’s gonna give you all that.
- Duolingo partnered with Crocs on a pair of green clogs designed to look like Duo the owl, offering a more physical reminder to do your Spanish lesson.
- Crocs also partnered with luxury designer Simone Rocha, in case you wanted to upgrade your Jibbitz to pearls.
- Because the collab limit apparently does not exist for Crocs, it also made rubber boots with chip-can holsters with Pringles. Just don’t wear them when it’s raining.
- Water and makeup is typically a less-than-ideal pairing, but e.l.f. Cosmetics and Liquid Death gave us a good laugh with their estranged death-metal dad video.
- That’s that me espresso (martini): Kahlúa and Absolut saw an opportunity to seize on Spotify’s most-streamed song of the year and partnered with Sabrina Carpenter on a drink kit.
- Shein dropped a CoComelon collab, combining the dopamine vices of parents and kids alike.
- It might not be possible to fly with Elphaba on a broom, but travelers can fly with green luggage thanks to Béis x Wicked. If we had to pick a favorite Wicked collab, we’d probably take that one over Starbucks’s green-foam cold brew.
- SpongeBob SquarePants celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, and Wendy’s took it as an opportunity to sell Krabby Patties. Your move to upstage with Pretty Patties, Burger King.
- McDonald’s took a different route, pursuing its first beauty collab with Nails Inc. We respect the french fry/French tip concept but fear that “I’m Lovin’ It” nail stickers could be a gateway into skinvertising.
- Dunkin’ and Scrub Daddy teamed up to make donut-shaped sponges. Now we know what Ben Affleck wipes his tears with.
- In other Massachusetts-related news, Mattel and Airbnb brought Polly Pocket’s OG house to life outside Boston. Little women, indeed.
- Some brands like Coca-Cola and Toys ‘R’ Us partnered with AI companies on what were intended to be sentimental ads—and instead sent us on a one-way trip to Uncanny Valley.
Read the full article here
