The Week in Consumer Packaged Goods: September 27, 2024 edition

Welcome to The Week in Consumer Packaged Goods, a weekly roundup for marketers from Quad Insights that covers the latest must-know news surrounding the CPG space.

Sour Patch Kids just launched “Sour Translator,” a new campaign aimed at Gen Z, “many of whom are just entering the corporate world and navigating office jargon for the first time,” The Drum’s Audrey Kemp reports. The “Sour Translator” online tool created by the Mondelēz-owned brand “decodes cryptic, overly polite work emails (think: ‘per my last email’) into their blunt, no-nonsense interpretations lurking beneath the surface,” Kemp writes. Users of the tool can enter a message to receive a “sour” translation coupled with a “sweet” offer on Sour Patch Kids products, redeemable at Albertsons and Safeway stores. The campaign includes influencer collaborations across social media and digital out-of-home ads.

More CPG campaigns and promotions:

• “Illy Launches its Digital Content Series ‘Coffee Break’” (Trend Hunter)
• “Bulleit Whiskey Taps Into ‘Frontier Mindset’ In New Brand Effort” (MediaPost)
• “S.Pellegrino Released ‘A Young Chef’s Journey’ Film” (Trend Hunter)
• ICYMI: “Liquid Death Iced Tea and Nascar Are Looking for a Few Good Drivers” (Adweek)
• ICYMI: “Playboy Spirits Pitches Vodka Seltzers With Colorful Innuendo” (MediaPost)

The Coca-Cola Company just announced its decision to discontinue one of its latest flavor innovations, Food Dive’s Christopher Doering reports. Launched in February, Coca-Cola Spiced featured raspberry and other natural flavors and was intended to be a permanent offering — its first in over three years. As Doering notes, the new flavor “was an attempt by the beverage manufacturer to respond to growing consumer interest, especially among younger individuals, for spicier foods and beverages.” While the brand didn’t cite a specific reason for axing the product, it noted that it’s making plans for a new Coke flavor in 2025.

Starting this Sunday, Hellmann’s Mayonnaise will hit the road to share some “mayotivation” with football fans who need it most: those of underdog teams, per a brand announcement. For the next four Sundays, the Hellmann’s tailgating-inspired RV “will roam the home city of one of the week’s underdog teams,” stopping along the way to reward fans who are proudly supporting their local team with “game-day food spreads,” merchandise and other items to help keep them “mayotivated.” Kicking off Sept. 29 in Jacksonville, Florida — with Hellmann’s new mascot Manny Mayo along for the ride — the RV tour will also include stops on Oct. 6, Oct. 13 and Oct. 20, which the brand will announce on its Instagram page. The activation piggybacks off the Unilever brand’s partnership with Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis on its “Mayotivations” campaign and the launch of “the world’s first parfum de mayonnaise.”

More brand activations and initiatives:

• “Whoa! Listerine Recommits To Dental Diversity Initiative” (MediaPost)
• “Pernod Ricard wants to make drinking environments safer” (Brand Innovators)

“There’s no better feeling than beating your rivals, and then being able to trash talk your friends who are fans of those rivals. We thought that aligned perfectly with what our core mission is [at] Fireball, to really inject fun and a little bit of mischief into every experience.”  
—Danny Suich, Global Brand Manager for whisky brand Fireball, speaking with Marketing Brew’s Alyssa Meyers about the brand’s new “Ignite Your Rivalry” campaign.