Unusual toothpaste flavors, beyond traditional minty varieties, have proliferated since the mid-2010s, with smaller specialty players driving the trend. Hello Products offers blue raspberry, bubble gum, fresh citrus, lavender vanilla, and more, for example, while Tom’s of Maine sells cucumber aloe, coconut and mango, cinnamon clove, and fennel, to name a few. Whiskey, bacon, wasabi, […]
Archive | Corporate brands
Racing-related Eyewear Picks Up Speed
By Karen Raugust on September 18, 2025 in Accessories, Automotive, Corporate brands, Licensing, Sports
Racing in all of its forms has had a big presence in many product categories over the past few years, especially in the fashion realm. The properties in question include not only auto racing, which dominates collaboration activity in this space, but also increasingly bike, motorcycle, sailboat, and horse racing as well, not to mention […]
Collaborations Worth Their Salt
Collaborations focused on infused salts, mostly limited editions, have been on the rise since about 2022. The products are both colorful and flavorful and are intended for use as cocktail rimmers, finishing salts for baked goods, and beyond. Most examples involve IPs that are closely tied to the food and beverage industry: Rokz, a maker […]
Protein Powder Deals Bear Fruit
Protein powders have been a very active category for licensing of late. While a variety of properties are represented, from celebrities and characters to sports IPs and videogames, food-related brands have dominated the sector. And most have been of the sweet sort, encompassing candy, cookies, cereal, restaurant offerings like pancakes and fountain drinks, and more. […]
Candy Kisses
With the current popularity of food brands, especially those of the sweet variety, across all consumer products, and the current power of the beauty category as a center of collaboration activity, it is no wonder that partnerships pairing candy, cookies, and other sweets with color cosmetics, lip balms, skincare, and the like have been a […]
Food Brands Explore Fresh Categories
The announcement of Newman’s Own packaged salad kits from Fresh Del Monte earlier this month is a reminder of the role food and beverage brand licensing plays in the fresh produce industry. The new product line is one of a few agreements that have been announced in this space over the last couple of years: […]
Clothing Confections
By Karen Raugust on October 31, 2024 in Accessories, Corporate brands, Fashion, Food/Beverage, Licensing
Candy brands have long been participants in fashion collaborations, but they seem to be experiencing a particularly active period in this space these days. Designs tend to go all-in on prominently featuring the shapes, colors, mascots, and packaging associated with the IP, and the focus is largely—but not entirely—on accessories categories, in part because consumers […]
Hoping for Happily Ever After
Earlier this year, two licensors reworked their deals with important licensees, granting them perpetual licenses within their categories. This is a relatively uncommon deal structure where a significant upfront payment, typically in lieu of an ongoing royalty, gives the licensee ownership of their category indefinitely, with the IP owner retaining rights to the underlying brand. […]
QSRs Scare Up Some Halloween Fun
As the days count down to Halloween, a deal between Chipotle and Spirit Halloween for novelty costumes has added to the options consumers have had at their disposal to dress up as their favorite fast-food dishes come October, whether for trick-or-treating or holiday parties. In fact, quick-service restaurant chains offering costumes depicting fan-favorite foods has […]
Considering ‘Condiment Couture’
The ongoing foodie fashion trend, in which luxury and other fashion designers integrate fast food, snack, and any number of food-related brands into capsule collections of apparel, accessories, and footwear, shows no signs of waning. One subset of this trend recently benefited from a spike in interest: namely, “condiment couture.” This mini-trend has typically taken […]