Musicians partnering with brands is nothing new, and these collaborations are often met with mixed opinions. Lady Gaga recently partnered with Oreos to promote her new album “Chromatica,” offering a unique limited edition Oreo design: a pink Golden Oreo with green creme in the middle. 

The design of this Oreo is very unique, with one side of the cookie being designed with either a heart or the logo for the album. The green color of the creme is also very bright and gorgeous. However, I couldn’t tell the difference between this and a normal Golden Oreo. The creme tasted the same, as did the pink cookie. I was expecting it to be some sort of different flavor, but the experience was nothing more than having a simple Golden Oreo with a vanilla cookie and traditional vanilla creme. 

This makes me wonder if this is simply a marketing tactic for Lady Gaga rather than any expression of creativity. I haven’t found a source stating that the Oreo was a different flavor, nor did I taste any difference. Golden Oreos are delicious, but the only difference between the classic cookie and the “Chromatica” edition was appearance. If there was an effort to be more creative with the flavoring, it would have been much more interesting and made me want to check out the album more. This would have made it feel more personal to Lady Gaga too, even if the flavor made was met with mixed opinions. 

There are endless possibilities with the flavors they could have experimented with for this Oreo. It could have been a raspberry flavored cookie with apple creme, or a classic Golden Oreo with another flavor such as cotton candy or Key Lime. While the Oreo had a creative design, they could have done more with it. 

Brand partnerships can be good for musicians to increase knowledge about what they are trying to promote, yet there are both positive and negative aspects of doing this. These partnerships can seem a bit contrived or disingenuous, especially for someone as famous as Lady Gaga to be partnering with a brand as big as Oreos. It doesn’t seem like Lady Gaga needs the endorsement from Oreos to sell albums. When paired with the difference in the Oreo only being the appearance, it might first appear that the goal here was to advertise rather than make something unique and different. 

It was said that the Lady Gaga Oreo was released to “spread musical messages of kindness” while also incorporating interactive elements for fans on social media. A scavenger hunt was also started on Twitter with clues released for fans to find across the platform in relation to the Oreos. Lady Gaga and Oreos have also started a campaign called “Sing It With Oreo.” This encourages fans to send messages through music to their loved ones via social media for a chance to win Lady Gaga merchandise. These details give us an insight on the message behind the collaboration, which increases the genuineness of the brand partnership. 

Overall, I would recommend this Oreo if you’re interested in the unique design. But, if the celebrity behind the product or the design doesn’t interest you, buying a simple Golden Oreo package would have the same effect.