From Pickle Soda to Ranch Ice Cream: The Most Unhinged Food Collabs of the Year
Food brand collaborations used to be about logical extensions, but somewhere along the way, brands realized confusion got people talking more than comfort. In the past year, the food world has fully embraced chaos by producing mashups that are engineered more for viral disbelief. The latest wave of collaborations treats food as a cultural prop. These are calculated risks, designed to dominate timelines, spark debate, and make people say, “I have to try this, even though I hate the idea.”
Sonic Drive-In x Grillo’s Pickles Picklerita Slush
Image via Reddit/freaknasty710
If pickle soda was inevitable, this was its final form. Sonic’s collaboration with Grillo’s Pickles resulted in a frozen drink featuring lime slush, pickle juice, pickle-flavored boba pearls, and a pickle chip garnish. The flavor profile lacked balance. It was sweet, sour, briny, and aggressively green.
Hidden Valley Ranch Ice Cream by Van Leeuwen
Van Leeuwen has made a sport out of frozen dairy provocation, but ranch ice cream marked a new psychological threshold. The flavor forced consumers to confront a question they never asked: Should salad dressing ever be dessert? The answer, for most people, was no—but they tried it anyway.
Coffee Mate Dirty Soda Creamer for Dr Pepper
Image via Reddit/darylitis
Coffee Mate releasing a creamer explicitly not meant for coffee was a masterclass in brand confusion. It was designed to be mixed into Dr Pepper as part of the dirty soda trend. The coconut-lime creamer left coffee drinkers deeply unsettled.
Panera Bread Mac & Cheese Lip Balm
This collaboration technically crossed into beauty, but the scent made it impossible to ignore. A lip balm that smells like macaroni and cheese forced consumers to imagine tasting their favorite comfort food without actually eating it. The experience came from a brand known for bread bowls and hospital-adjacent dining.
French’s Mustard Skittles
French’s and Skittles collaborated on a mustard-flavored candy released as a limited promotional item. The candy tasted exactly like yellow mustard, which left little room for interpretation. The release was an intentionally brief novelty that instantly became infamous.
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Ice Cream
When Kraft partnered with Van Leeuwen, the internet split into two camps: those who defended savory-sweet innovation and those who saw this as a crime against both food groups. The ice cream featured actual cheese powder folded into a traditional creamy base. The problem was that no one had ever asked for it.
Pepsi Peeps Marshmallow Soda
Pepsi transformed marshmallow candy into a carbonated drink, which resulted in an extremely sweet, holiday-focused soda that polarized even the most loyal soda fans. For some, it was nostalgic and playful. Still, the flavor left little room for nuance.
Taco John’s x 5-Hour Energy Caffeinated Hot Sauce
This sauce contained as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. It was designed for Cinco de Mayo and asked consumers to consider whether their tacos should also function as a pre-workout. The answer was unclear.
Oreo x Coca-Cola Cookies and Soda
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Yellowlemonadelady
Milk’s favorite cookie partnering with soda felt like a betrayal of a sacred agreement. This collaboration produced Oreo-flavored cola and Coca-Cola-infused cookies with popping candy. The partnership relied on brand dominance to overcome skepticism.
Hidden Valley Ranch Eggnog (RanchNog)
Ranch-flavored eggnog combined traditional holiday ingredients with savory seasoning. Blending mezcal, cream, spices, and ranch seasoning felt like going too far. The formulation was careful, but the concept itself joined a growing list of releases designed less for momentary cultural presence.