The Dirt on Dirty Soda Collaborations

The current popularity of dirty sodas has given rise to a handful of collaborations in the last year or so, many involving fast food chains. 

Dirty sodas are soft drinks with the addition of flavored syrups or fruit juice; a splash of half-and-half, cream, or creamer; and sometimes garnishes such as fruit or candy. They got their start in the early 2000s in Utah, serving as a beverage option for the state’s large Mormon population, who reject alcohol. The first store specializing in the beverage, Swig, opened in that state in 2010. The trend didn’t go mainstream nationally until the early to mid-2020s, however, driven by social media influencers and reality shows, with a notable boost in September 2024 thanks to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu. 

The trend has only accelerated since then, spurring partnerships like these: 

• Cool Sips, the first dirty soda specialist shop in New York City, paired in August with Poppi prebiotic soda, representing the former’s first branded collaboration. The initiative consisted of three limited-edition drinks: Boardwalk Buzz (Poppi Classic Cola with blue raspberry, coconut, and sweet cream); Tropic Like It’s Hot (Poppi Punch Pop with lime, pineapple, and sweet cream); and Campfire Crush (Poppi Doc Pop with strawberry, toasted marshmallow, and vanilla cream). 

• Ninja Thirsti, SharkNinja’s home water carbonator brand, paired with several of the stars of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives to create four hand-crafted dirty soda bundles, released in June, containing all the ingredients needed to make custom dirty sodas at home. The women — Jen Affleck, Mayci Neeley, Demi Engemann, and Taylor Frankie Paul — are Mormon influencers who post as a well-known part of the MomTok community and gained additional fame by starring on the show. 

• KFC partnered with Mountain Dew in June to offer an exclusive dirty soda, Peaches and Cream Sweet Lightning, inspired by the flavor of a Creamsicle, but with a peach spin in place of the traditional orange. It was a dirty soda follow-up to Sweet Lightning Mountain Dew, a collaborative flavor the partners offered in 2019. Taco Bell, a sibling brand of KFC under the Yum! Brands banner, similarly paired with Mountain Dew in May for a Dirty Mountain Dew Baja Blast, featuring vanilla cream, while Papa John’s, another sibling banner, paired with the same brand, also in May, for a Cini Dirty Soda featuring pepperoncini flavoring.   

• Coffee Mate capitalized on the trend in May by launching two dirty soda-appropriate versions of its signature creamer, in partnership with Dr. Pepper and Orange Crush, both Keurig Dr. Pepper brands. The creamers were meant to be mixed with the two soft drinks to create dirty sodas, rather than being poured into coffee. The Dr. Pepper version was a tropical lime and coconut-flavored blend while the Orange Crush was a return of 2024’s very limited Orange Cream Pop flavor.

• Del Taco collaborated with Dr. Pepper last December to release the Dirty Del, a take on the dirty soda involving a Dr. Pepper with vanilla shake mix and a slice of lime.  

• Sonic partnered with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, stars of the 2004 reality series The Simple Life, in December for two dirty sodas under the Sonic Iconic Drinks by Paris and Nicole banner. The promotion was tied to Paris and Nicole: The Encore, a TV show that featured the two stars working at a Sonic while developing an opera; it was prompted by the 20th anniversary of the original show. The drinks included The Nicole (Dr. Pepper, sweet cream, vanilla, strawberries, and whipped topping) and The Paris (Sprite, dragon fruit flavoring, lemons and limes, Nerds candy, and whipped topping). 

Dirty sodas still represent a small percentage of drinks sold in restaurants, but they are growing as a menu item at a pace of 42% per year, according to MenuData and the Food Institute, compared to flat sales for sodas overall. Some of the reasons cited for the popularity include the ability to customize and the unexpected flavor combinations, both of which are particularly appealing to Gen Z. For older generations, a key driver is consumers’ growing desire for non-alcoholic beverage options, which was dirty sodas’ reason for being in the first place. It seems like the trend is here to stay for a while, offering opportunities for more collaborative products, both with quick-service chains and other partners.