To revive Kool-Aid's relevance and captivate a new digital generation, we aimed to make a cultural impact. Embracing the concept of brands turning into celebrities, we boldly positioned Kool-Aid Man as an influencer. After all, why couldn't a brand become a celebrity?
In just two months—and with mostly organic content—Kool-Aid’s social presence delivered results that beat Kraft Heinz benchmarks and punched way above its weight.
A few paid posts helped amplify key moments, but the heavy lifting? That was scrappy, culture-first creative doing its thing.
• 184.2M GIPHY views (“Oh Yeah, Cooking” led with 103.4M views)
• 31.3M Snapchat Lens impressions + 403.9K shares, with 15 sec
avgerage engagement
• 12% YouTube subscriber growth
• 75% Instagram Story completion rate
• Kooking with Kool-Aid outperformed benchmarks:
5.25% VCR / 16.8% ER (Pie)
2.66% VCR / 8.23% ER (Pancakes)
We crashed the holidays with an internet-stirring song and video, fusing Lil' Jon's infectious "Yeah!" with Kool-Aid Man's unforgettable "Oh, Yeah!" Their collaboration birthed an actual song, not a commercial. Without warning, we unleashed this masterpiece, and it swiftly took off.
The payoff:
• 2B earned impressions
• 11M video views
• SNL feature
• 17% sales lift
• 141M social mentions
When the internet starts riffing on your brand—and even late-night TV jumps in—you know you’ve hit a nerve. Kool-Aid Man was no longer just crashing walls; he was crashing pop culture itself.
An influencer is a person with a social media following who creates niche content, collaborates with brands, and engages their audience through posts. It's no surprise that Kool-Aid Man would have his own YouTube channel.
Ohhhh? Yeah!
For our Halloween content, we opted to engage our fans by conducting a Twitter poll to determine Kool-Aid Man's costume. Although we were rooting for a pirate theme, the classic skeleton emerged as the top choice. To unveil the winning costume, we teamed up with a local pumkin patch and created an exciting video that showcased the big reveal to the world. Oh Yeah!
To combat flavor boredom, Kool-Aid introduced New Kool-Aid Sours, bringing a party to your taste buds. In response, we crafted scenarios filled with excessive sweetness, enabling the Kool-Aid Man to showcase his mastery crashing these moments, adding a delightful touch of sourness when you needed it the most.
From scrappy organic hits to viral holiday chaos, we didn’t just refresh a brand—we rebooted its place in culture. Kool-Aid Man went from nostalgic icon to full-blown influencer, landing in memes, music videos, and even a few late-night punchlines.