Perhaps because people's love for carbonated drinks is waning, beverage giant Coca-Cola recently released its 2017 annual report, showing a significant 81% drop in performance. This marks the fifth consecutive year of declining sales for Coca-Cola. The glory days are behind them, but how can Coca-Cola accept this? Recently, it partnered with Korean beauty brand The Face Shop to launch a full cosmetics line, including cushion foundations, eyeshadows, lipsticks, and more. The collaboration features the classic red color scheme, with eyeshadow palettes, lipsticks, and liquid lip tints. There are also many lipstick options: choose the cola-flavored one below if you like cola, the Sprite-flavored one if you prefer Sprite, and there's even a Fanta option. Applying eyeshadow, foundation, and lip balm, you're greeted with a fizzy drink scent—just thinking about it is intoxicating...

However, food brands collaborating with cosmetics is nothing new these days, but every time another brand 'dips its toes,' I still want to shout: Why not just stick to selling your food? Let's take a look at some crossover cases.

M&M's / Skittles Lip Balms Did you love M&M's and Skittles as a kid? Those little candies were irresistible, and sometimes you'd hesitate to bite them, letting them melt slowly... They've also released lip balms, letting us adults relive childhood in a grown-up way ☟

Oreo Hand Cream Speaking of snack brands, who would have thought Oreo would collaborate with The Saem to release a chocolate-scented hand cream? This is really tempting! But you might keep licking your hands, and people will look at you like you're crazy.

Yakult Face Mask This mask, launched in collaboration between Yakult and Korean brand Skin's Boni, contains three types of lactic acid bacteria and is mainly for moisturizing and whitening. The essence is thick, and when applied, you can smell a strong lactic acid scent. If it accidentally drips into your mouth, you might not be able to resist drinking it.

KFC Nail Polish / Bath Additive When it comes to crossover masters, Colonel Sanders should be the first to spark discussion. Not content with just 'making chicken,' in 2016 KFC launched a truly finger-lickin' fried chicken-scented nail polish, which instantly went viral online ☟ It came in Original and Spicy Crispy flavors, made with natural ingredients, and claimed you could lick it off after 5 minutes. Talk about dedication!

Another mind-boggling product was a bath additive shaped like a fried chicken leg! When you put the 'drumstick' in water, it sizzles like frying and melts, turning the bathwater into a fragrant orange brew that smells like fried chicken. You'd better have takeout ready if you bathe in that, or you won't be able to resist!

Pizza Hut Perfume Pizza Hut, also under Yum! Brands, loves to stir things up. To promote its new durian pizza, it collaborated with Demeter Fragrance Library to launch a durian pizza-scented perfume. Limited to 2,000 bottles, it sold out immediately upon release. I don't quite get it... Are there really that many people who want to be women with a soul that smells like durian?

Burger King Perfume Yes, Burger King also released a perfume, and even earlier than Pizza Hut. On April 1, 2015, Burger King Japan announced the launch of Flame Grilled, a men's perfume with the scent of flame-grilled burgers. Because it was released on April Fools' Day, many didn't believe it, but it was indeed sold in a set with the classic Whopper, limited to 1,000 bottles worldwide, and quickly sold out.

Luzhou Laojiao Perfume Finally, let's highlight a classic domestic crossover: Luzhou Laojiao perfume. Before the viral hit, they had also collaborated with Demeter, but the packaging was too dull and didn't attract much attention. The new packaging, however, captured hearts with its girly appeal. These days, looks really matter!

There's a saying: 'Your perfume isn't alcohol, but I'm drunk like a dog.' Now the perfume really is alcohol...

As one of the classic and enduring fashion elements, 'crossover' always breaks the monotonous status quo and brings us fresh experiences. But why does the food industry always seem to choose cosmetics as its first crossover target? This might be partly because the premise of crossover marketing is 'marketing,' and the premise of marketing is 'communication' + 'sales.' Cosmetics, as a consumable necessity and affordable luxury, occupy a huge market. Collaborating with brands from other fields to launch co-branded cosmetics is a cost-effective choice in terms of communication.

Crossover is definitely not about 'bullying' but about aggregating marketing that targets multiple interests of potential consumers. The more memes, the more enthusiasts from different interest areas you can reach.

Source: Brand Geometry (ID: brand-vista)

Click Read Original to see more highlights from the 4th FMCG + Internet Conference...

-END-