Brand collabs are ten a penny these days, and they can range from inspired and meaningful partnerships to quick cash ins and downright weird combinations. But few come close to the scale of Oreo BTS, a match made in collab heaven between the world's biggest pop band and best-selling cookie brand.
The BTS Oreos are more than just a novelty colour and the name of the band on the packet. They're inspired by a South Korean street-food staple, and the Kpop stars appear to have a genuine affection for the product (well, we already knew they liked Butter).
The first question many fans are asking is whether the BTS Oreos will be available globally, and there's good news for the Army.
Costs, logistics, marketing calendars and licensing issues mean that these kinds of limited-edition product collaborations are often restricted to a few select markets, but Oreo says its BTS biscuits will be available in 80 markets worldwide. While that's not every country where Oreo has a presence, it's a lot, and easily surpasses the scale of Oreo's previous collaborations, including one with Selena Gomez, which focused mainly on markets in the Americas.
That could make Oreo BTS one of the most global short-term brand collaborations yet, operating on the kind of scale as long-term hook ups like the Nike Apple Watch or Taco Bell's Doritos Locos Tacos.
For those not inn the Army, it can be easy to underestimate just how big BTS are (as we did until BTS fans taught us a lesson).
When FIFA decided to try to turn the World Cup into the Super Bowl, it turned to BTS to ensure maximum global exposure. Reunited after military service, the wildly popular Kpop band have the best chance of establishing the concept of the half-time show way beyond the niche sport of American football.
The BTS Oreos don't feel like a rushed cash in on the band's comeback either. Time and craft has been put into this. Oreo says the product was two years in the making. It explored options with the band and whittled them down to a shortlist of three potential flavours, seeking something that felt rooted in Korean culinary tradition but without it being so market-specific that it might alienate the brand's broad international customer base.
They finally settled on hotteok, a filled pancake whose history dates way back to the 19th century, when it was brought to Korea from China. It's inspired what Oreo is calling a 'brown sugar pancake' flavour.
I'm not sure how different the taste of a brown sugar Oreo can be compared to the usual Oreo taste of plain old sugar, but BTS's J-Hope promises that the cookie delivers. “It really has that flavor, so it’s fascinating,” he said in the press release.
The collaborative delicacies also have a striking physical design. They have purple biscuit in honour of BTS's brand colour and 13 different embossed designs to celebrate the band's 13th anniversary next month. These include members' names, a BTS light stick, and three cookies that apparently a hidden message that we're told fans can only decode by collecting the full set. (Spoiler: check out the photo below if you can't source the goods).
Unlike the recent McDonald's Nike Book 2 collaboration, which was based on what seemed to me to be a tenuous connection between Devin Booker and unusually branded McDonald's restaurant, I'm charmed by BTS's apparent enthusiasm for Oreo.
"We ate them as kids, we eat them in the studio, and now Oreo is helping us share a taste of home with the world.” the band says.
“We ate quite a lot during this song camp,” BTS leader RM adds, referring to the group’s recording process for their comeback album Arirang. “When we were working in the studio, there would be Oreos next to us. It’s also a snack we’ve eaten since we were young.”
The limited edition OREO x BTS Cookies are available for pre-sale starting 1 June at OREO.com/UnwrapTheCollab, with a retail rollout beginning 8 June, priced at $5.49 per pack.
