Reese’s Puffs Cereal Box
This is a Reese’s Puffs cereal box that was created in collaboration with American artist KAWS. This is one of the most recent design collaborations that Reese’s has had as they’ve also collaborated with people like Travis Scott and Lil Yachty. The thing that caught my attention at first was the character laying in the cereal that is known as “Companion” which almost serves as a mascot for KAWS. What I enjoyed most about the design is how it includes some iconic aspects of KAWS like the character in the cereal along with the two X eyes at the top of the box which appear in several of his works. Along with this, I like how the design creates a fun feeling with the character interacting with the environment while not taking away from what the product is by including the cereal and keeping the original color scheme of the box.
I actually saw this at Harris Teeter and was debating on purchasing it! Although I’m not a big fan of KAWS and am indifferent towards it, this caught my attention as well. I think it is pretty smart and serves as a good advertisement for an artist to work with a food company to place their art on grocery store shelves. This cereal collaboration also takes things up a notch and allows the viewer to take a peek into the future of augmented reality. On the side of the cereal box there is text that says, “How to play KAWSPuffs” and has instructions. It is smart to place it on the side of the cereal box. I know whenever I eat cereal I look at the packaging and read the text when eating, so instead the viewer can scan the QR code and the user will be led to play the AR game where they can compete and win prizes. I also think the way they incorporate the character with the reese’s cereal is interactive and iconic. Like you said, they combined both branded elements well, the brand’s signature color alongside KAWS COMPANION, so it does not subtracts from the product but adds to create something new.