Dive Brief:
- Oreo’s, manufactuered by Mondelez, is launching a contest to go along with their new mystery flavored filling, according to Consumerist. Anyone who guesses the mystery flavor correctly gets an entry into the contest to win $50,000 or one of five $10,000 prizes.
- Consumers have posted a variety of guesses on social media sites, like Twitter. So far, the most popular guess is Froot Loops, with Creamsicle and lemon as runners up. Fans are invited to submit their guesses through November 30th.
- Oreo has a history of introducing creative limited-time flavors such as cinnamon bun and fruit punch.
Dive Insight:
There is something just plain fun about guessing a mystery flavor. Many consumers first learned this when trying to carefully select a cream soda flavor Jelly Belly from a mixed bag, only to get stuck with a coconut bean. The novelty hasn’t worn off in adulthood, as many food manufacturers have come to realize.
Public relations campaigns focused on mystery flavors, like Oreo’s, have enjoyed a great deal of success in recent years. Candy manufacturer Just Born has a tradition of releasing three mystery flavors of Peeps each spring before Easter, and fans have fun guessing what they are.
During the summer, Polar Beverages released three new mythical mystery flavors of seltzer, and brought back fan favorite “Unicorn Kisses” from last spring’s limited release. The new limited-time flavors were “Mermaid Songs,” “Dragon Whispers,” and “Yeti Mischief.” There was no description of what they tasted like, but fans of the brand couldn’t wait to buy it and post about it on social media.
This type of promotion works because everyone knows what a classic Oreo cookie taste like. This launch would be far more difficult for an up-and-coming brand that consumers aren’t as familiar with. If the company is an unknown, shoppers have no baseline to compare the new mystery flavor to.
There isn’t much of a long-term impact to Oreo’s new filling flavor, unless it’s so popular that the cookie maker brings the contest and challenge back. Fans will continue to post their best guesses on social media until Nov. 30. Then, when the mystery flavor and winners are revealed, there will be another swell of attention and consumers saying they knew all along what flavor it was.
Consumers seem to revel in trying to guess mystery flavors, and are even more incentivized to interact with the brand when there is prize money at stake. Already, Oreo’s Mystery flavor has appeared on the Today Show and been tweeted about countless times. As far as PR campaigns go, this one is a slam-dunk right into a glass of milk.