Ah, Supreme. The New York skate shop-turned-international holy grail-generator of all things fashion. A King Midas that turns every item it slaps its logo on into resale gold.
It brings into question just what Supreme would have to do to diminish its own hype and brand appeal? What could it do to bring down its own worth, Bloom and Bialystock style, if it wanted to?
We’re not saying Supreme has gone fully into “let’s just put our logo on whatever and they’ll buy it” mode, but the company’s Spring line of items includes baseball catcher’s gear, a tool set, co-branded Ziploc bags and Oreo cookies.
Supreme Oreo’s droppin for $8 a pack for SS20 pic.twitter.com/EYSDDnA6MC
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) February 18, 2020
Supreme is unmatched in its branding appeal. It has its logo on so many different things, and this just takes it a step further. It proves that Supreme could put its logo on literally anything and it would make sense. Not only that, but people will buy it. Not only that, but people will re-sell it to others willing to buy it at a marked up price. There are very few, if any, brands on Earth with that kind of demand.
It goes to show how far a brand can transcend its original identity—just a skateboard shop in New York—and become synonymous with streetwear fashion and able to put its logo on any surface under the sun.
The Oreos are the first thing we’ve seen from Supreme with an expiration date, and it will be interesting to see if they continue into the food products game in the future. If it’s a success, you can probably expect to see other companies vying for co-branding opportunities like Oreos and Ziploc have this time around. If you’re a brand that gets the sign of approval from someone like Supreme, you are officially cool, and you open yourself up to a whole new batch of customers who buy your products for that very reason.
With the general popularity of promotional food items (and the onset of branded fruit and vegetables in the promo industry), seeing Supreme branded Oreos shouldn’t come as a huge shock. To see them still for re-sale in a few years, however, might be a little questionable.
But, the other items in the drop make a little more sense. The Leatherman tools are items that collectors can hold onto for a long time, even if they put them to regular use. For avid baseball fans who also dabble in streetwear, the Rawlings catcher’s padding could be a fun decoration or conversation starter. And, for a company like Ziploc that would hardly be considered “cool” in the traditional sense but is ubiquitous, teaming up with Supreme is smart marketing.
So, what will Supreme put its logo on next? Your guesses are as good as ours. But, if brands were smart, they’d be banging down Supreme’s door asking for a co-brand.
