Pairings of character IPs with soda pops and other soft drinks are not a new phenomenon, but there has been a recent surge in interest in such partnerships globally. While most initiatives are promotional, spearheaded by the marketing departments of film and TV studios and accompanied by other promotional techniques like exclusive content or contests, some fall into the realm of licensed products. In the case of promotions, it is most common for the product’s packaging, rather than the product itself, to be altered during the duration of the initiative; however, it is becoming more common for new flavors to be introduced as well.
Here are some examples from the past year, with the first four occurring in the past three months:
- Potions Cauldron Group introduced a range of Marvel Superheroes sugar-free soft drinks. Each version of the drink is tied to a specific character, with a unique color that reveals itself when the bottle is shaken. Launch varieties include Iron Man Reactor Red Fruits, Captain America Super-Soldier Blue Grape, and Hulk Gamma Sour Lime. Joining the line later this year will be Black Panther, Thor, and Deadpool varieties, with Doctor Doom to follow in 2026. The drinks, for the U.K. market, debuted in HMV and Hamleys, among other retailers. Three-bottle gift boxes are available for sale, along with single bottles.
- Suntory Beverage and Food France partnered with Toei Animation for a limited-edition range of its Oasis fruit-flavored soft drinks highlighting One Piece. Containers featured the brand’s fruit mascots dressed as different members of the anime’s Straw Hat Pirates gang. The cans and bottles included a QR code to unlock exclusive rewards and enter a contest for a trip to Japan, with social media videos supporting the launch. Flavors such as apple-black current, tropical, peach tea, kiwi, and apple-pear were included as part of the line. Oasis offered a similar promotion with the anime Naruto Shippuden last year.
- Poppi collaborated with Warner Bros. for limited-edition cans celebrating A Minecraft Movie, marking the first film promotion for the prebiotic soft drink brand. Limited-edition four-packs in core Poppi flavors of strawberry-lemon, lemon-lime, cherry limeade, and orange featured Minecraft characters (the Creeper, Bee, Sheep, and Dennis the Wolf) on the box, while the cans themselves featured pixelated versions of their usual fruit graphics. The company said its positioning as a culture-first, digital-first brand made it a good fit with Minecraft. In-store displays used the four-packs to create cubic structures reminiscent of the worlds of the game and movie, and simultaneous purchases of four four-packs gave consumers access to $15 Fandango Movie Rewards to see the film.
- Kawaji, a U.K. maker of fandom-driven beverages, worked with Hasbro on Transformers Soda in three flavors to start: Optimus Primeberry, Megatron Decepticherry, and Bumblebee Apple Bumble, each with its own can design and color. New character-flavor combinations are being added to the line over time.
- Suntory paired with Nintendo for a promotion in Japan centered on Splatoon 3. As part of the initiative, bottles across several of the company’s trademarks featured character graphics from the game. The brands, which included Pepsi Big Zero Lemon, CC Lemon, Dekavita C Power, Pop Melon Soda, and Natchan Ringo, offered two limited-edition bottle designs each, featuring different Splatoon characters.
- Coca-Cola’s Fanta brand debuted a special edition with Warner Bros. to support the release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The company introduced an exclusive limited-edition Beetlejuice flavor in a black-and-white can depicting the main character in the feature film, played by Michael Keaton. Five existing Fanta flavors received special cans depicting other characters from the live-action film: Astrid on orange, Lydia Deetz on strawberry, Delia Deetz on pineapple, Delores on grape, Wolf Jackson on lemon, and Bob on strawberry kiwi; the selection varied in the 50 different markets where the promotion occurred. QR codes brought fans to digital experiences and gave them a chance to win tickets to the film in theaters.
- Coca-Cola launched a Marvel promotion featuring limited-edition packaging on Coca-Cola and Coke Zero cans. Appealing to collectors, all the artwork was red, black, and white, with each can highlighting one of 30 different Marvel heroes and villains. QR codes gave access to augmented-reality experiences for each character, along with a chance to win prizes, from memorabilia to vacations. A feature film-style commercial supported the venture.
- Jones Soda and Bethesda Games, along with Prime Video and Kilter Films, created a limited-edition craft soda called Nuka-Cola Victory, to support the new Fallout streaming TV series, based on the video game of the same name. The peach-mango flavor was based on user suggestions received from fans in response to a question about what kind of beverage would be found in the world of the series. Bottle caps are used as currency in the franchise, and the products had caps that were redeemable as part of Jones’ Caps for Gear platform.
Soft drink brands have also been involved in character promotions that include merchandise giveaways, exclusive content, contests, and/or advertising, but where the product and packaging are unchanged, aside from advertising bursts or QR codes. And quick-service restaurants have also been known to pair favorite characters with their fountain drinks. These types of initiatives, along with the retail product offerings discussed above, are a good way to catch the eyes of consumers, especially children and adult collectors; to set the beverage apart from its competitors, at least for a time; and to add an element of fun.
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