Skittles candy is made for summertime shenanigans—but the brand was losing relevance. Category share was slipping, and Gen Z wanted newness from their candy. The ask: create a fresh summer ritual that could drive cultural heat and incremental purchase.

Gen Z treats candy like a craft project. They mix it, mash it, melt it, and meme it. The wilder the concoction, the more likely it is to get attention (and consumption). So we leaned into their unbridled creativity and gave them a whole new way to play.

Skittles Summerade: An unexpected twist on the lemonade stand.

We invented an entirely new summer behavior: mixing Skittles candy into homemade “-ades”. Then we handed it off to the internet’s most chaotic food creators to go absolutely off the rails—with blends that defied logic, flavor rules, and sometimes gravity.

From TikToks to shoppable recipes, we turned the trend into a movement. Fans could submit their own wild drinks via our “Never Bland Stand” for a chance to win absurd summer getaways. Retailers joined the party with cross-category promotions and regional flavor mashups. Even Six Flags jumped in, co-creating an exclusive Skittles Summerade sold across all its parks.

• Reversed category share decline

• Drove major incremental sales

• Surpassed engagement benchmarks across social

• Expanded in-store visibility and promotional support

• Created a brand-owned summer ritual that Gen Z literally drank up

Creative direction and copywriting across the campaign. Helped define the ritual, shape the influencer brief, script content, and bring the “Never Bland Stand” to life in digital and retail environments.