Sour Patch Kids targets Gen Z in new campaign with Twitch
Sour Patch Kids’ newest ad pits streamer against streamer, and flavor against flavor, in a livestream video game competition.
Sour Patch Kids features custom, limited-edition boxes branded for Twitch streamers / Sour Patch Kids / Spark Foundry
The “sour-then-sweet” candy brand has returned to Twitch for an esports competition that gets streamers billed as “Rocket League MVPS,” and their fans, to fight for their favorite flavor of candy.
Created by Sour Patch’s media agency Spark Foundry, the campaign gathers four popular video game streamers – Rizzo, Athena, GernaderJake, and JonSandman – to duke it out in the “Fruit Fight.” Each will livestream their gameplay of soccer multiplayer game Rocket League on Twitch.
Founded in 2011 and acquired by Amazon in 2014, Twitch allows gamers, musicians and other creators to earn money and amass followings by livestreaming.
The e-games begin as creators launch two-hour solo livestreams. Each will show off their favorite flavor with limited-edition Sour Patch boxes, printed with their faces on them. Then, they will rally their fanbase to vote for their flavor online. Even sweeter, by voting online, viewers will have a chance to win a $10,000 grand prize.
The campaign marks the second time Sour Patch Kids has teamed up with Twitch. Last summer, the Mondelēz candy brand teamed up with streamer TimTheTatman to release limited-edition, TimTheTatman-branded candies, which featured blue raspberry, strawberry, and lime flavors.
Both collaborations are geared towards introducing Sour Patch candy to Gen Z, a demographic that makes up a majority of Twitch’s estimated 31 million users.
Rizzo will kick off the Fruit Fight on June 15 at 3 p.m. ET as team peach. Next up will be Athena repping grape on June 20, following GernaderJake for Strawberry on June 27, and JonSandman for watermelon July 8. The competition culminates with a final Fruit Fight “Squad Stream,” where all creators will compete against each other on July 11.
To boost their chances of winning the prize, viewers can buy their creator’s custom Sour Patch candy box, which will go for sale online on June 15.