If you've been following recent fast-food trends, you'll know just how much brands are starting to bank on consumers' nostalgia for childhood treats. Once novel partnerships between fast-food and snack-food companies are now popping up at almost every corner.
That includes especially the doughnut corner, an area in which Krispy Kreme (DNUT) has been trying to carve out some major territory.
The quintessential doughnut chain this spring has released three donuts inspired by General Mills' (GIS) Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal. Now, it's set its sights on another major snack-food partnership.
Is the Ice Cream Truck Really Coming?
Krispy Kreme
While recent years have seen an abundance of unique treats from around the globe and available at any time, millennials and anyone older than that still associate North American summers with a few specific ice cream staples. Some, like me, always went for the tartness of the Firecracker Popsicle while others liked sweeter concoctions like the Creamsicle.
For three weeks starting from July 18, Krispy Kreme is going to be banking on those sweet "hand reaching inside the ice cream cooler" memories with three donuts inspired by Unilever (UL)'s Popsicle and Good Humor products — the Firecracker, the Vanilla King Cone and the Creamsicle.
The first mimics the sour taste of the Firecracker Popsicle with blue raspberry sugar and sour cherry kreme on Krispy Kreme's original glazed doughnut. The version inspired by the Vanilla King Cone banks on that nutty vanilla-chocolate swirl with custard kreme, chocolate icing and peanuts.
The Creamsicle-inspired doughnut has that orange doughnut glaze with a heavy hit of cream from the vanilla custard, white icing and cream sprinkles.
Some Krispy Kreme locations will also offer a drink version of the Creamsicle as a Chiller.
What's the Strategy Behind This?
As more than one brand has learned, nostalgia is a powerful marketing tool. Many who normally don't buy doughnuts may recall those early-childhood memories by the ice cream truck or cooler and be tempted to try them.
Krispy Kreme
Immediately after posting the new doughnuts online, Krispy Kreme received fan suggestions for doughnuts with s'mores and Ferrero's Nutella (this has already happened in countries like Australia and South Africa).
This can take the form of bringing back long-discontinued favorites — Mondelez (MDLZ)'s Oreo recently tried this with the Cakester cookies — or partnering with a brand that has strong nostalgic connotations. The latter could be seen when Sonic launched a slush with the taste of Sour Patch Kids, a candy also made by Mondelez.
While these types of partnerships are usually promotional campaigns with a short time frame, one example still available on menus now is the Cheez-It Tostada from Yum! Brands (YUM)-owned Taco Bell. The Kellogg (K)'s cheese cracker meets the requirements of the familiar snack many had in their lunchboxes with the innovation of putting it inside a Taco Bell item.
"All of these bizarro crossover and mash-up items might sound a bit dystopian, but for fast-food chains, there are few things more effective than new products that are both somehow familiar and new at the same time,” Adam Chandler, author of "Drive-Thru Dreams," told the BBC in 2019.
"These gimmicky offerings have taken off in recent years because they're carefully crafted, not just for physical consumption, but for digital consumption as well."
