BY LORI CULWELL
So, the other day, we were talking about how Oreo had been purchased by a mysterious corporation called Mondelez that I am convinced is located within Mount Rushmore. I am convinced that the same person who thought “Oreos and coffee for adults– great branding opportunity” is responsible for the strange new Oreo flavors that keep cropping. First it was candy corn (for winter holidays, of course), then ginger, both which received a pretty resounding “Ew” across the internet, and now– watermelon-flavored Oreos. WATERMELON OREOS for summer, people.
Here’s what I don’t understand– does no one at that company just want to go ahead and ride the brand equity of “WE INVENTED THE OREO COOKIE”? It seems like you could take that delicious Oreo flavor and build from there, does it not? Oreo-flavored candy bars, perhaps? Oreo cookie crumble? Licensing of the delicious Oreo flavor for other uses, like muffins? I can think of about 100 products I would make before adding watermelon flavoring to my core product, frankly.
I will admit, I haven’t tried watermelon-flavored Oreos yet (apparently they are only available at Target), but I’m on the fence about this. To be true to my “vote with your dollars” consumer self, I technically should not buy these just out of prurient interest, plus I read one review of them that said they tasted like “Jolly Ranchers on steroids,” and that just sounds disgusting. Also, and this is coming from a person who LOVES OREO COOKIES, isn’t there the chance that a strangely-flavored Oreo iteration will put me off the brand entirely? Technically I should only be trying them for review purposes and not putting any of my money toward this product, because the Mondelez corporation will not know the intention behind this sale, and therefore will count it as a success.
Whatever the case, Stephan says he will try them, so I am going to go look for some today and will report back. For the record, in case Mr. Mondelez is reading this, I think this kind of lateral brand expansion is a bad idea.
