The latest snack food collaboration is between two products that are more similar than they are different.
Oreo has partnered with another snack brand owned by Mondelez to debut a whole new dimension to cookies.
The motto for the limited-time promotion is, somewhat unoriginally, "opposites attract."
The sweet-and-salty combination is meant to combine two beloved childhood flavors that had never before been seen as particularly compatible.
Those intrigued by this combination should not expect to find it on store shelves.
A limited-time promotion, it will be available to order on Oreo.com/Ritz on Thursday, May 26 at 12 p.m. EST for free as long as one covers the $3.95 cost of shipping.
While the brands did not specify how long the promotion would last, the stress on "very limited quantities" implies that it could get grabbed up in just a day or two.
Two Classic Snacks Are Coming Together
While Oreo is a chocolate cookie filled with sweet cream, Ritz is a salted cracker filled with a cheese or peanut butter cream.
Launched on May 24, the RitzxOreo is exactly what it sounds like: one half of a Ritz cracker and one half of an Oreo cookie with some peanut butter and Oreo cream spread between them.
While cheese is the most popular Ritz flavor, the snack also comes with a peanut butter cream.
"This Ritz x Oreo product marks our first product collaboration with our friends at Ritz and we can't wait to hear what Oreo superfans think about this new take on the classic combination of chocolate and peanut butter!" Sydney Kranzmann, a senior brand manager at Oreo, said in a statement.
Childhood Nostalgia Is A Powerful Marketing Force
The partnership does not actually steer too far away from home as both Oreo and Ritz are owned by Mondelez (MDLZ), which is also behind names like Chips Ahoy, Toblerone, Trident and Cadbury.
Ritz and Oreo, which have been around since 1934 and 1912 respectively, predate their recent acquisitions by the snack food giant.
It is safe to say they have both entered permanently into the canon of American food culture.
More than a few generations have after-school memories associated with both of these snacks. One ad from 1936 shows a mother surprising a group of kids with a box of Ritz while millennials' grandparents will know that the original Oreo motto was "Oh! Oh! Oreo!"
"Over the past few years, Ritz has been exploring innovative partnerships and experiences to spark excitement around our iconic, buttery cracker," Alexis Yap, Ritz's senior brand manager, said in a statement.
"We couldn't resist the opportunity to collaborate with our friends at Oreo on a snack that's part salty cracker, part chocolate cookie, and entirely delicious.
Such combinations can be a powerful marketing tool since both the curiosity and nostalgia factor work to get people talking about the brand on social media.
Die-hard fans often see such combinations as travesty but, in writing about how "gross" and "wrong" it is, inadvertently help the product go viral and draw attention to the brand.
By contrast, the "they paired what?!" strategy also helps attract a certain section of curious customers to try the product. Just one example was when, last week, Pepsi (PEP) released a pizza with cola-soaked pepperoni to much fanfare.
"NO ONE ASKED FOR RITZ IN THEIR OREOS," wrote Instagram user @_brooksy_ under Oreo's post.
As RitzxOreo product is not for sale, it is done primarily as a marketing opportunity to get people talking about the brands.
Since news of the partnership broke, Mondelez shares rose 0.75% to $62.50 after falling 5% in the last week.
