I don’t know if you grew up with Jarritos at your supermarket, but if not, I’ll give you a primer. Jarritos is a soda made in Mexico that uses 100% real cane sugar and natural fruit flavors to produce extremely unique sodas.
It’s also known for being packaged in glass bottles and being extremely colorful. It can typically be found in the imported foods section of your local grocery store, although your options are usually limited to the big three of mandarin, tamarind and jamaica.
Jarritos has always been forward thinking with fan engagement and in the tradition of March Madness, decided to build a food bracket made to go viral… with actual stakes attached.
The company recently introduced fans to not one, not two, but THIRTY-TWO different flavors of soda. Here’s the grand twist: only one will be named to the permanent lineup and it’ll be up to a fan vote on Facebook to choose which flavors advance to the next round.
It’s basically Mountain Dew’s “DEWmocracy” contest from the late-2000’s, except on steroids and involving a lot less money spent on our parts. (Which could actually be the only setback to this contest; I, for one, would love to sample all 32 of these flavors.)
The 32 flavors were split up into two brackets: fruity and yummy. The fruity league was largely made up of fruit options, while the yummy league was the spot for more… experimentation. Every day, fans could vote on two or three new matchups per day, using reactions (like “heart” or “wow”) to choose which flavor advances to each round.
By the end of the month, Jarritos expects to choose a new flavor that becomes a part of the permanent Jarritos lineup.
Jarritos unveiled the Super Good Sweet 16 Bracket Wednesday afternoon after a week of fan voting:
Yes, some of those flavors are not illusions: lavender lemonade, habanero lime and blueberry soda all advanced in the bracket.
The original roster was even more crazy, with flavors such as gila berry, lychee, Mexican cocoa, star fruit, guanabana, and nopales up for selection.
Jarritos does a masterful job of being innovative with its marketing of the bracket (right down to the pun-filled fun of the thing) and using Facebook’s algorithm to its advantage in order to find the most exposure.
The visuals that accompany the posts are especially eye-popping and attractive:
You can participate by going on Facebook and refreshing the timeline every so often. For me, I’ve got notifications set whenever the page posts so I can vote immediately. (Even if my favorite of the bunch, lychee, was eliminated early.)
Regardless of the result, it’s really awesome to see a campaign like this that puts the trust in the customer’s hands and allows cutomers to have a direct line of communication with customers.
It’s peak Internet and I am Here For It.
HOT SPROTS TAKES 