Inside Super Mario’s partnership with Oreo

Campaign: Oreo x Super Mario cookies
Companies: Mondelez International and Nintendo
Agency Partners: Dentsu Creative (creative and organic social); Weber Shandwick (public relations); VaynerMedia (paid media).
Duration: June 14, 2023 – ongoing

Everyone knows that the best thing to pair an Oreo cookie with is a glass of cold milk — at least it used to be. Now, perhaps, there is a better counterpart to the black and white cookie. Who? “It’s-a me, Mario.”

Strategy

The creatives at the Oreo brand thought a partnership with Nintendo, the video game company behind the Super Mario franchise, would be effective “because of the strong parallels between what both brands look to offer to their fans,” Oreo senior brand manager Vishnu Nair stated in an email to PRWeek. “Super Mario is an iconic franchise that is known for playfully connecting fans of all ages – which mirrors the Oreo brand’s ethos.”

Tactics

Before announcing the partnership June 14, the Oreo brand teased it on social media with a clip of a cookie dropping into milk and the text: “Our latest collab is about to make a big splash.”

The brand then started releasing videos featuring its limited-edition cookies with 16 different embossments, including heroes Mario and Luigi and enemies such as Bowser. The brand encouraged fans to collect all the cookies. 

A 58-second video featured an Oreo cookie completing obstacles to the classic Mario theme music.

@theoreoofficial

Collect cookies! Save the kingdom! Pre-order LTE Super Mario OREO cookies now! Link in bio. #SuperMarioOREO

♬ original sound - OREO

The brand also created a contest which asked consumers to stack as many hero cookies as possible atop a Bowser cookie on the rim of a glass of milk until he is defeated, i.e. the cookie falls into the milk. The brand then encouraged participants to share a video of the activity on social media.

“We wanted to create a new experience to engage fans and get them involved in defeating Bowser – and what better way to defeat him than by dunking him into Oreo cookies’ favorite pairing: milk,” Nair wrote. 

The brand promoted the partnership on Oreo’s TikTok and Instagram channels, along with X, formerly known as Twitter. To generate earned media, the brand reached out to “food, lifestyle, trade and gaming beats to hit on all reasons and angles that fans could want to pay attention to this collaboration,” Nair stated.

Results

The 58-second spot generated more than 2.7 million views and 46,000 likes on YouTube; more than 540,000 plays and 20,000 likes on Instagram; more than 200,000 views on X; and more than 260,000 likes on TikTok. Other posts included a video showing off the Super Mario packs that generated more than 25,000 likes on TikTok and more than 13,000 likes on Instagram.

The campaign generated coverage from outlets such as Allrecipes; Billboard; People; and USA Today.