New York (CNN) — What started as an April Fool’s Day joke ended up as a real-life product popular enough to sell out in a day.
On Wednesday, Burt’s Bees and Hidden Valley Ranch announced an unusual collaboration — a set of lip balms that taste like a basket of chicken wings. The set of four flavors included buffalo sauce, crunchy celery, fresh carrot, and of course, the trademarked Hidden Valley Ranch.
The lip balm may remind customers of some classic American dishes — so just apply it to your lips if you dare, but don’t eat it.
“NOT FOR CONSUMPTION. Obviously,” the site warned.
By Thursday, the collaboration of nightmares (or dreams) was already sold out on the Burt’s Bees website. It originally sold for $11.99.
When most companies announce gag products — think Velveeta martinis, Doritos booze, and KFC chicken yule logs — they’re not meant to pad a corporation’s bottom line or even sell out.
They’re simply clever marketing ploys, designed to be sent as niche gag gifts or in some cases, garner attention on social media. Kraft Heinz, for example, turned to gimmicks and nostalgia to stage a comeback and revive its “dusty” brands.
Burt’s Bees collaboration with Hidden Valley Ranch sprung from an April Fools’ Day social media post. Burt’s Bees posted a Hidden Valley Ranch-flavored lip balm on its Instagram on April 1, 2022 — with the assurance on the fake packaging that it retained a 100% natural origin.
The lip balm release also took place just weeks before Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11, and wings are a popular game day snack.
