Oreo duets with Lady Gaga on feel-good 'Chromatica' tie-up

Dive Brief:

Mondelez cookie brand Oreo is creating pink-colored cookies with green-colored filling, taking design cues from Lady Gaga's most recent release, "Chromatica," the marketer said in details emailed to Marketing Dive. The cookies will also feature designs inspired by the album embossed on the wafer.
Six-cookie sampler packs of the Lady Gaga-themed Oreos will be available in convenience stores beginning in January. Fans awaiting release of the full package can sign up online for the Lady Gaga x Oreo Stan Club to be in the know about an official release date, with the first 1,000 subscribers receiving a complimentary pack when they become available.
As part of its latest music-related campaign, fans can head to a new Sing It with Oreo website beginning Dec. 15, where they can record a message that will be transformed into a song that they can share with friends, family and on social media. Packaging will include a QR code that makes it easy for scanners to record a message. Participants will be entered into a contest to win prizes.

Dive Insight:

The Lady Gaga partnership is the latest example of how Oreo has made music a central piece of its brand marketing. In 2019, the brand notably partnered with Wiz Khalifa for the global "Stay Playful" campaign, for which Khalifa recorded an original song. The brand also previously created an Oreo-themed record player, a turntable-shaped promotional item that played music when Oreos were placed on it, as well as a similar DJ Mixer. During the "Chromatica" promotion, the brand’s regular packaging will feature the Oreo record player design.

"Over the last few years, music has become a key element of our purpose to spread more joy and playfulness in the world through partnerships and entertainment properties alike," said Justin Parnell, senior director of Oreo, in a statement.

The themes of joy and kindness evident in this latest music-based promotion reflect emotions that typically get a bigger focus around the holidays. At the same time, these are themes that Lady Gaga returns to regularly. The pink and green cookies are meant to reflect the "world of Chromatica, where kindness rules all things," the singer said in a statement.

Continuing these themes, Oreo has also signed on as a sponsor of Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation, which seeks to encourage people to create a kinder and braver world.

The new Sing It with Oreo promotion, where fans can send messages to others, will also follow that theme of kindness by giving fans an opportunity to access and share Lady Gaga-recorded Oreo-grams, expressing wishes of kindness and affirmations.

Consumers sharing the musical messages will also have a chance to win merchandise, including Oreo music boxes and branded headphones, and experiences, including a grand prize flyaway concert, meet and greet, and personalized Oreo-gram from Lady Gaga.

The use of popular music artists in marketing has become quite pronounced in recent years, giving brands a way to engage with younger consumers. Earlier this year, McDonald’s launched meal promotions with reggaeton star J Balvin and rapper Travis Scott. Post-Malone, meanwhile, became the face of Bud Light's marketing earlier this year, and Lil Nas X appeared in a Super Bowl spot for Doritos. Lady Gaga herself is no stranger to marketing, having partnered with brands such as Pepsi, Amazon and Starbucks, just to name a few.