It's been another weird week in retail. Beer companies leaned into the Fourth of July spirit, White Castle collaborated with a number of brands for its latest merch drop and a new business popped up to help make the aftermath of breakups a little easier.
This, and more, in this week's retail therapy.
Brands brew up fun this July 4th
As the country begins to show signs of recovery, brands are pulling out all the stops to ensure the upcoming holiday weekend is one to remember.
Beer brand Natural Light recently announced plans to bring a world record back to the U.S. just in time for backyard Fourth of July fun.
"The darkest hour in American slip and slide history was marked on October 16, 2015, when an ambitious group in Jordan broke the Guinness World Records title for the longest plastic water slide (also known as a slip and slide) at 2,007 feet...and things were never the same," the brand said in a press release emailed to Retail Dive.
Natural Light on Thursday built a slip and slide spanning 2,021 feet in Canaan Valley, West Virginia. But that's not all. The brand opened a sweepstakes to give one lucky fan a chance to be among the first to slide down said slip and slide, as well as supply them with a year's worth of Natural Light beer. The winner will also be able to bring three friends along with them to the Canaan Valley Resort.
The world record attempt coincides with the brand's launch of its limited-edition USA cans — featuring stars, stripes and, of course, bald eagles — which will be available for purchase for the duration of the summer.
"We couldn't find a 2,200-foot-long quad at a nearby college town (trust us, we tried), but we're very confident the slip and slide you see on July 4th weekend will be something the entire nation can be proud of," Daniel Blake, group vice president of Budweiser & Value at Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement.
But because beer tends to be a staple among July 4th celebrations, Natural Light wasn't the only one to get in on the fun.
Pabst Blue Ribbon this week announced it would release a pack of beers inspired by America's founding — 1776. The #1776 pack will feature, you guessed it, 1,776 PBR beers.
"After 18 months of social distancing and self-isolation, this 4th of July our country steps outside together once again to reclaim its independence," the company said. "And the nation's largest American owned brewery, Pabst Blue Ribbon, will be right there to take all of the credit."
The limited-edition pack launched earlier this week in collaboration with four partners: Igloo Coolers, skateboarding podcast group The Nine Club, pop band Hot Mulligan and comedian Ali Macofsky.
"We figured the best way to honor the year America claimed its independence was to make a box that held that many beers – 1,776. It's the least we could do. I mean beyond making our beer can red, and white, and blue. Actually 1,776 is the most we could do because 1,777 seemed excessive," Nick Reely, vice president of marketing at Pabst Blue Ribbon, said in a statement.
The brand noted that fans at home can keep an eye out for the release of "an even bigger box" to the general public in addition to the return of the 99-can pack.
For its 100th anniversary, White Castle goes all-in on latest merch drop
It's not every day you become a centenarian, so for White Castle's big year, it readied a new merch drop in collaboration with some popular brands.
The fast-food chain, known for its famous hamburger sliders, teamed up with Puma to create two styles of footwear — the classic Puma Suede and the Future Rider — both featuring White Castle's blue and white colors.
The collection also includes co-branded graphic T-shirts, shorts and a hoodie, and launched last Friday in Puma's New York flagship as well as online, and in-store at Foot Locker's suite of stores. And just in case this collection flies off the shelves, the brands already announced another drop for this fall.
White Castle also worked with skateboard brand DGK and pop culture collectible brand Funko to create products inspired by the chain.
This isn't the first initiative White Castle has rolled out in honor of its 100th anniversary in business. In April, the chain teamed up with award-winning fashion house Telfar to reimagine its uniforms.
"We're taking our brand partnerships to the next level with these and other activations," Lynn Blashford, chief marketing officer at White Castle, said in a statement. "What better way to launch our second century in business than by feeding the souls of new and existing Cravers with distinctive new merchandise?"
Need to get your stuff back from an ex? There's now a service for that.
Sometimes when relationships end on no-so-great terms, it can make for an awkward situation attempting to get your belongings back.
But don't fret. Thanks to a group of three individuals — who, in their words, took another idea too far — there's now a service "designed to bring humor to an otherwise s----y situation."
Dubbed "Postdates," the pop-up business asks users to create an account, as well as answer questions about what type of relationship they were involved in and help them get their stuff back, depending on the situation.
Postdates is available in New York City and Los Angeles for a limited time, and if you think it sounds like another popular app, you're not wrong.
The company said, "Postdates works just like your favorite delivery app, but in break-up form."
So here's to all of us finally getting our favorite sweatshirt back. It's about time.
