Collaborations will take business owners far in the world of finance. Regardless of the type of brand someone might own, it’s often in their best interest to link up with other beloved brands to spread awareness about what they’ve launched or created. This is something CEOs and business owners are already actively working on.
For this reason, noteworthy food brand collaborations regularly pop up for consumers to buy into. Some food brands have collaborated with other food brands to release new flavors and menu items. In other cases, food brands collaborate with non-food-related businesses to sell items like shoes, clothes, and purses. The list is endless when it comes to possible collaborations in the business world.
Well-known fast food chains like McDonald’s, Panda Express, Arby’s, and KFC have hopped on this bandwagon. Places that sell desserts like Milk Bar and Ben & Jerry’s are also in on the game. Delicious snack brands like Pringles, Skittles, Jet-Puffed Marshmallows, and Oreo have dived in with big-name collaborations in recent years as well. While we’re on the topic of interesting things to eat, click your to find out about 22 of the oldest fast food items ever.
To compile this list of the best food brand collaborations ever, 24/7 Tempo consulted several food-centered sources. These include All Recipes, The Daily Meal, Fast Food Club, FoodSided, and Tapas Magazine.
French’s Mustard and Skittles
If the idea of eating mustard-flavored skittles grosses you out, you’re not alone. Still, that didn’t stop French’s Mustard from collaborating with Skittles to create a weirdly savory flavor that doesn’t fit in with the other classically sweet flavors Skittles offers. Typical skittles flavors are strawberry, lemon, orange, green apple, and grape when purchasing an original pack. Mustard-flavored Skittles hit shelves in 2023 in honor of National Mustard Day. Residents living in New York City, Washington DC, and Atlanta were given packs of mustard-flavored Skittles for free.
Coca-Cola and Highsnobiety Workwear
It’s obvious that Coca-Cola will always be one of the most beloved soda flavors ever. The brand is worth a whopping $45.8 billion. The dark soda flavor pairs well with savory foods, dairy desserts, and so much more. When Coca-Cola decided to collaborate with a fashion brand called Highsnobiety Workwear, it was a huge win for both parties.
Highsnobiety Workwear agreed to release a limited edition line of clothing with 12 pieces specifically designed to honor the Coca-Cola brand. The pieces showcased Coca-Cola’s signature read graphics. Anyone interested in representing Coca-Cola on their jackets, gloves, beanies, T-shirts, crewnecks, and other accessories made that happen with the Highsnobiety Workwear collaboration.
Ben & Jerry’s and Nike
When it comes to ice cream flavors, there’s a reason Ben & Jerry’s is a brand that garners so much positive attention. Ben & Jerry’s offers a slew of delicious and creative flavors for people to enjoy. When they chose to collaborate with Nike, it was a match made in heaven. The plan was to create funky-looking sneakers that would impress the masses.
The sneakers they designed were brightly colored with cow print as the underlying theme. Vibrant colors like sky blue, lime green, and neon yellow were incorporated in the trendy pair of shoes as well. On the interior of the shoes, consumers saw a tie-dye pattern added. One glance at these Nike shoes instantly reminded people about delicious pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream back in 2020.
Cheetos and Milk Bar
Cheetos have been a beloved snack to enjoy at lunchtime for decades. Charles Elmer Doolin, the creator of Fritos, came up with the concept for Cheetos in 1948. The cheese dust on top of the weirdly shaped crisps have always been a hit. When Cheetos collaborated with Milk Bar in 2023 to celebrate its 75th anniversary, it certainly got people talking.
Milk Bar is a brand known for selling sweet desserts such as cakes, pies, and cookies. Since Cheetos are known as a savory snack without any sweetness, this collaboration came as somewhat of a shock. Still, it somehow worked because it was so celebratory and fun. Milk Bar released a festive-looking birthday cake to honor Cheetos with cheddar-flavored frosting.
Oreo and Supreme
Anyone with a sweet tooth understands why Oreos are such a beloved treat to chow down on. Folks who appreciate luxury fashion can also understand having admiration for Supreme. Oreo and Supreme collaborated for a rare release of Supreme-branded sandwich cookies. The top detail that made Supreme Oreos different from typical Oreos was the color.
The dark chocolate cookie pieces were red instead of black. Rather than opting for a red velvet flavor, Oreo and Supreme chose to keep their collaborated cookies in the same original flavor as always. Since consumers have loads of love for both Oreo and Supreme, packets of the rare cookies ended up selling on eBay for over $10,000 apiece.
McDonald’s and Moschino
McDonald’s is considered a one-stop shop for saving money and filling your stomach. That’s because the menu items at McDonald’s are far cheaper than alternative options when looking for a quick bite to eat. On a separate note, McDonald’s chose to collaborate with an Italian luxury fashion brand called Moschino back in 2014.
The idea of blending fast food and upscale fashion was enough to get people chatting up a storm about both brands. At the time, Moschino sold a $78 French fry-themed phone case and a sweater worth $780 in honor of McDonald’s. The sweater depicted those famous golden arches. The collaboration was wonderful for Moschino since McDonald’s has one of the most recognizable logos in history.
Panda Express and Anti Social Social Club
The most popular menu item at Panda Express is their orange chicken. There’s a reason the pot of orange chicken is always so much bigger than any other food pots they’ve got on property. Panda Express came up with a brilliant business plan to collaborate with a streetwear fashion brand called Anti Social Social Club with their orange chicken in mind.
The line of clothing included caps, hoodies, and T-shirts that were all decorated with Panda Express’s famous orange chicken. The collaboration blew up in 2020, and items from the line are still being sold today. Anti Social Social Club is a well-known fashion brand among Millennials and Gen-Zers, which is why this collaboration worked out so well.
KFC and Crocs
KFC, also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a fast food restaurant known for its chicken strips, chicken sandwiches, and French fries. Crocs is a shoe brand recognized for releasing the comfiest footwear ever. Although a collaboration between KFC and Crocs sounds super random, the two companies decided to link up in 2020 to make magic happen.
KFC-themed Crocs launched for the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Visually speaking, the crocs weren’t very attractive to look at, but they offered a level of comedic value that aided in their popularity and sales. The best detail of all? The detachable charms were designed to look and smell like fried chicken.
Jet-Puffed Marshmallows and Kizik Footwear
When people think of Jet-Puffed Marshmallows, they often think of making s’more’s around the campfire. After all, the mind doesn’t automatically float to footwear when thinking of marshmallows. Still, Jet-Puffed Marshmallows and Kizik Footwear collaborated in 2023 to release a pair of s’mores-inspired slip-on shoes.
One of the reasons the collaboration was such a success is that it didn’t include overly obnoxious logos or branding. Instead, the Kizik shoes were designed to look like brown graham crackers on top with white marshmallow soles at the bottom. The simplicity was divine. The shoes were sold for over $100 a pair, just in time for National S’mores Day that year.
Arby’s and Old Spice
Arby’s has a classic slogan that plenty of people can chant whenever thinking about the fast food restaurant. The classic and iconic phrase is, “We have the meats!” Arby’s made waves in 2022 when they decided to collaborate with Old Spice. Old Spice is known for selling cologne and deodorant to male consumers.
The collaboration stemmed from the idea that eating tons of meat from Arby’s could potentially make you sweat — and smell badly. But you can combat bad smells by wearing Old Spice products, and you’d be just fine. Click here to uncover the fast food facts everyone should know about.