“For the record, those machines cost $25K each lol, the Olipop account wrote under Lanter’s video,” People reported. 

This raises an interesting point about the cutthroat nature of carving out your own niche in a competitive marketplace. Poppi and Olipop, down to their gumball-esque brand names, are nearly identical in terms of product and marketing. This “scandal” afforded Olipop the opportunity to walk over Poppi, establishing a more authentic, down to earth tone that is attractive to modern consumers (particularly in times of recession). That tension between standing out and staying grounded is at the heart of food and beverage branding.

What do consumers want from food and beverage brands?

Consumers across the board are gravitating towards content that feels “real:” meaning, content from brands that’s anchored by community engagement, a sense of humour and a thoughtful prioritisation of what people care about today. 

While the term has become diluted through overuse, the power and importance of community can’t be overstated. The same desire for intimacy and shared experiences is what makes formats like dinner-date shows and mukbangs so sticky for food and beverage brands.

What is common in good community engagement?

True community isn’t just based on quippy engagement in the comments section. It’s the difference between chasing social media trends and building real brand equity over time. It’s an actionable relationship between brand and consumer, based on open conversation and equity. True community, in my opinion, is rare to find within the brand space these days — an organic, gravitational pull towards a particular company comes from something deeper than selling products can offer. 

Think about Apple, Nike and other big name brands that have devoted, loyal followings (and have become household names). Being an “Apple person” means something in terms of personal identity — Microsoft users are often thought of as digital Dads or desktop oriented tech bros, while Apple users are swift, streamlined. Nike runners can sync their routes to the brand’s app to “just do it.” 

This is why I believe many brands are launching Substacks, to delve into a platform known for its engagement and less social media-esque feed. The RealReal, Rare Beauty and Tory Burch have all launched Substacks to send out email newsletters to their “community,” to name a few. This has to be done carefully: Substack is meant for editorial content, “girl diary entries” and casual product recs from writerly influencers. Push too overly branded content on the masses and people will roll their eyes at the misuse of an app with the best of intentions. 

Craving community ties into the current loneliness epidemic, and how people are craving intimacy. In a Stats Canada survey, over 1 in 10 Canadians,reported feelings of loneliness. Scrolling for intimacy is a favourite pastime of my generation (me and my friends often talk about why we scroll on TikTok, and what we’re really searching for in these fleeting videos that can afford a 30 second sense of being “seen”). 

As such, consumers are gravitating towards brands that provide a sense of connection. This comes with authenticity, feeling respected and not taking themselves so seriously. This is where Poppi faltered — who’s stocking a hot pink vending machine full of prebiotic soda anywhere but Margot Robbie’s dream house in the Barbie movie? In an era where people are struggling to make rent, this expensive PR move fell flat. It’s a difficult line to toe, as everything is always expensive, and it can be difficult to know what will land with consumers. But studying the recession cycle is helpful — sometimes, we crave 80’s style, all-out Gatsby era opulent glamour, to live vicariously through the 1%, and sometimes we feel incensed by this content, bolstered by the need to band together in the real world, hunker down and weather the storm. 

Food and beverage marketing trends 

Here’s some healthy advice we have to give based on trends in the food and beverage industry today! When it comes to microtrends that matter for food and beverage brands, it’s important to consider that consumers are seeking healthful options, with a variety of dietary restrictions gaining traction in common conversation — gluten free, low sugar, dairy free. Offering these options and rebranding existing snacks with a variety of dietary restriction options is a way that many brands like Walker’s are refreshing their image to maximize their community growth and relevancy in a changing food and beverage landscape.

The Bon Appétit and Poppi scandals are reminders that food and beverage marketing trends only work when they’re grounded in a real understanding of what your audience values — whether that’s health, affordability, community, or humour. Trends are tools, not a replacement for strategy.

Why funny brand marketing works for food and beverage brands

To integrate these trends successfully, brands are using smart humour to grab — and hold — consumer’s attention. For example, Taco Bell recently announced their new Cheez-it Crunchwrap with an Apple-esque conference that attendees ate up, generating over 57m impressions and over 5 million engagements. 

Cava recently posted a meme of a pita chip with the caption: “cava gave me the password to take over the IG so we can celebrate my birthday week together!” that went viral for its creative take, generating tons of positive engagement. It was perfectly on brand and silly. Subway followed suit, posting a Facebook Marketplace ad selling a Ziploc bag of “Subway Air” for $500, with a message from a potential buyer (“hi, is this still available?”). Liquid Death took humorous posting a step further, with Nashville country star Carter Faith singing Liquid Death hate-comments aloud in an ironic video that was applauded for its fresh take on owning negative comments.

The common thread? A clear sense of brand voice and the confidence to use humour in a way that feels true to it — something we build with clients in our brand and campaign work.

Key food & beverage branding lessons

If you zoom out from the drama, a few clear food and beverage branding lessons emerge:

• Trends without a backbone are risky. If your brand identity isn’t clear, hopping on every aesthetic or content format can make you look generic — or out of touch.
• Community is earned, not bought. Giant vending machines and flashy stunts can work, but only if they reflect what your community actually cares about and can see themselves in.
• Authenticity is about alignment, not perfection. You don’t need to be serious all the time; you do need to make sure your tone, partners, and campaigns line up with your values and your audience’s reality.
• Humour works best when it’s on-brand. The brands winning with funny brand marketing aren’t trying to sound like someone else — they’re amplifying what already makes them distinctive.

For food and beverage brands, that’s the real takeaway from Bon Appétit and Poppi: your brand can absolutely play with trends and humour, as long as the story underneath is unmistakably yours.

If you’re looking to build your brand in the food and beverage space, we know what not to do — and we have our finger on the pulse of what actually works. At Arnold Street, we’re a digital marketing agency in Toronto and creative agency that helps food and beverage brands turn cultural signals into clear, ownable branding. From positioning and visual identity to campaigns and content, our digital marketing services are designed to build brands that last longer than the latest scandal. Get in touch with us today!