Oreo teams up with BTS to launch purple cookies inspired by Korean street food

Paris: Oreo has teamed up with K‑pop supergroup BTS to launch a limited-edition line of cookies inspired by Korean street food, as the brand taps into growing consumer interest in global flavours. Mondelez, Oreo’s parent company, said the BTS-themed cookies will go on sale online from June 1 and in stores from June 8, across more than 80 markets worldwide, marking the brand’s largest partnership to date. The cookies feature purple wafers, reflecting BTS’s signature colour, along with 13 unique embossments that include the names of the band’s seven members and an outline of the fan light stick used at concerts. The cream filling has been developed to replicate the flavour of hotteok, a brown sugar-filled Korean pancake popular as street food. “For Oreo to be the first snacking brand we’ve collaborated with globally is a huge honour. 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 a statement. The product has been two years in development, with Mondelez narrowing down several flavour options before selecting hotteok. Martin Renaud, Mondelez’s chief marketing and sales officer, said the collaboration aimed to balance authenticity with broad appeal. “You want to be authentic, you want to be differentiated and create an experience. But when you are Oreo, you need to be pleasing a large group of people,” Renaud said. The launch comes amid rising global demand for international cuisines, driven in part by social media, delivery platforms and greater access to speciality grocery stores. Experts say consumers are increasingly willing to explore new tastes as an accessible way to experience different cultures. Oreo has previously partnered with brands and celebrities including Coca-Cola, Selena Gomez and Blackpink, and has released region-specific flavours such as cherry sakura in Japan and red bean in China. The BTS Oreos will be available for a limited time, though the company has not disclosed how many packs will be produced.