The Oreos created with K-pop supergroup BTS will feature purple wafers. Here’s how to get them.
WASHINGTON — Oreo is teaming up with K-pop supergroup BTS for a limited-edition cookie release with a unique color and a global flavor.
The Oreo & BTS Cookies, created by BTS and dedicated to the group’s fans, will feature Oreo’s first-ever purple wafers with 13 embossments designed by BTS to honor the group’s 13th anniversary, Oreo said in a news release.
The brown sugar-pancake flavored filling is formulated to taste like hotteok, which is popular in Korean street food markets. BTS members have childhood memories of eating hotteok and also Oreos, “making this a deeply meaningful collaboration that places a piece of their Korean heritage inside an iconic cookie they’ve always loved,” according to the release.
“For Oreo to be the first snacking brand we’ve collaborated with globally is a huge honor. We ate them as kids, we eat them in the studio, and now Oreo is helping us share a taste of home with the world,” BTS said in the release.
Martin Renaud, Mondelez’s chief marketing and sales officer, said the BTS cookies strike a balance of staying true to Korean culture and food while remaining consistent with Oreo’s brand and flavoring.
“You want to be authentic, you want to be differentiated and live an experience. But when you are Oreo, you need to be pleasing a large group of people,” Renaud told The Associated Press. “You cannot come up with something that will be liked only by 20% of the population because it would alienate some of our customers.”
Renaud said Oreo spent around two years developing the BTS cookie, eventually narrowing the possible flavors to three before settling on hotteok.
“I think Korean food is an incredible cuisine,” Renaud said. “I’m French, maybe I should not say that, but I believe it.”
The cookies will be available for presale starting Monday, June 1, at OREO.com/UnwrapTheCollab. The cookies start rolling out at retailers starting on June 8 and will be available only for a limited time.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
