We all know the Skittles tagline: “Taste the rainbow.” We did not, however, think mustard was part of the rainbow. But, a somewhat bizarre new partnership with French’s mustard included a promotional tour where people could try the limited edition mustard-flavored candies and get their hands on some commemorative merchandise.
The whole thing was in celebration of National Mustard Day, and even French’s acknowledged the mismatch on paper.
“Skittles is a candy that needs no introduction, but deserves a lot of love,” the McCormick website says. “That’s why when they hopped on board to combine their candy with our tang, we were over the moon. Then we tasted them and shot right through it. Few partnerships make sense. This one truly does not, which means it absolutely does.”
That last part rings true with the modern co-branding effort. Reaching younger generations entails cutting through more noise than ever, so it needs to be something that immediately makes an impression. And, with multiple generations grown up on absurdist TV, they have a taste for the bizarre like other generations might not have.
In short, mustard Skittles became a meme.
So, people showed up to the pop-ups in New York, D.C., and Atlantic City to try the candy and walk away with promotional products celebrating the hopefully-one-time release.
People posted pictures on Twitter of the packaging and the branded bus that pulled up to the stops, creating the branded event.
@Skittles French’s Mustard. pic.twitter.com/FP6KOGehUB
— mscheer (@mscheer) July 31, 2023
Some of the items have made their way onto resale sites, including one bag for $1,000. Skittles responded with a tongue-in-cheek celebration of their newfound wealth.
Also this box is now worth at least 40 grand… 🤔 pic.twitter.com/Dm03s9WaYE
— SKITTLES (@Skittles) July 31, 2023
But, for real, people are already selling items on eBay like stickers, gift bags, cross-body bags, a frisbee, and a bucket hat.
In the future, when this hype dies down and we’re all posting about the next strange corporate partnership, people will be able to bust out these items and say, “Hey, remember when Skittles and French’s did this?” It will be a nostalgia piece in the future, like when millennials remember green ketchup. (If you know, you know. That was so gross. I personally hated it.)
And for the time being, both Skittles and French’s got what they really wanted out of this: brand visibility and being part of the conversation.
