Old Trick Done Well: Pokémon Special Edition OREOs

Pokémon's 25th anniversary is a great excuse to serve some "false scarcity"

In this article:

  • Pokémon teamed up with OREOs to release Pokémon-themed versions of their classic sandwich cookies.
  • The 16 distinctive Pokémon designs are being pushed as collectible, motivating customers to buy multiple packages to be sure they… you know, catch them all.

For Pokémon’s 25th anniversary, it collaborated with OREO to Issue a limited-edition collectible cookie that generates FOMO.

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In anticipation of a collectible cookie-collaboration that is anticipated to drive a great deal of consumer engagement, the Oreo site set up a designated page for the OREO x Pokemon Limited Edition that shows all 16 designs: Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Jigglypuff, Sandshrew, Lapras, Dratini, Mew, Cyndaquil, Piplup, Pancham, Snivy, Sableye, Rowlet, and Grookey. Yum.

Fans of the sandwich cookies or obsessive collectors of all things Pokémon (or both!) could order in advance of the September 13th drop online or look for the specially marked packages at retailers like Walmart, which pops up on the site. OREO also was promoting the drop on its social media channels.

The reaction? Just five hours of posting the news, it generated 26,393 likes on Instagram. The trailer promotion garnered over 57K views in a day. It’s also posted on YouTube where it garnered over 100K views in a day.

That’s one engaging cookie.

You can see it here:

The OREO site shamelessly markets on the basis of FOMO, calling visitors to collect all “16 Pokémon-themed OREO cookies,” which may require buying several packages. Only some packages will represent all 16 and may even have “one super rare Mythical Pokémon.”

Right.

Anyhow, anyone who aspires to complete the collection, particularly one that includes the “super rare” version will, likely,  have to buy a bunch of packages to achieve that goal. By design, “some Pokémon are harder to find than others.”

One upside to consumable collectibles: the extra cookies that are acquired on the way to completing the collection can serve the standard function of cookies. You know, when eaten.

As for the CRM’s ultimate goal of “getting customers to buy with you again,” this is a good example of one of the oldest tricks in the book. Which means, we’re all for it. As long as it taps into real passion on your customers’ side, and the collab isn’t forced, there’s nothing wrong with injecting some “false scarcity” into your offering.