It took less than 24 hours for people to lose their mind.
On Wednesday of this week, Burt’s Bees announced a buzzy, yet unholy, partnership with Hidden Valley Ranch, declaring it was releasing a four-pack of lip balms that tasted (we’re not making this up) like buffalo sauce, celery, carrots and ranch dressing.
It took less than a day for the company to sell out of the product.
All of this started with an April Fool’s joke, when the two companies proposed the corporate mash-up. That should have been the end of that, but the internet proceeded to do its thing and willed the product into existence.
The four-pack, which sold for $12, promised to leave the flavor of whichever balm you chose on your moisturized lips. It came with the disclaimer “NOT FOR CONSUMPTION. Obviously.”
This was, as you might imagine, Hidden Valley Ranch’s first foray into the beauty category.
Burt’s Bees, like Oreos and Coca-Cola, has been rolling out a large number of alternative ‘flavors’ in the past year. The company introduced a Cranberry Spritz lip balm in the walkup to the holidays as well as the flavors chai tea, pumpkin spice, vanilla maple, and pomegranate.
The diversity plays to the company’s loyal base, who are fans of the lip balm, but interested in trying exotic versions of the product. Hidden Valley Ranch fans, meanwhile, will gobble up virtually any new and bizarre product the company offers.
Two years ago, for example, the company worked with New York-based Van Leeuwen Ice Cream to release, yes, a ranch-flavored ice cream. And a few years prior to that, it offered a keg of ranch that contained five liters of the salad dressing.