Pip: Summer is the season when every brand decides it has a personality, and honestly, some of them are not wrong.
Mara: Cristine Struble has been tracking exactly that — from coffee chain seasonal menus to a tequila making its first move into infused spirits, to a soda brand using hip-hop history as its summer campaign. That’s the territory we’re covering today.
Pip: Let’s start with what’s in the cup — Dunkin’ and Starbucks both have something to say about summer sipping.
Dunkin’ and Starbucks Chase the Summer Sip
Mara: The question both brands are answering this summer is the same: how do you make a seasonal drink feel like more than a limited-time item? Dunkin’ is leading with a full merch line alongside its beverages, and Starbucks is leaning into nostalgia.
Pip: Starbucks went deep on the nostalgia angle. The S’mores Frappuccino is back after six years, and the team behind the original put it plainly — Lisa Beckman, part of the original creation team, said “This beverage is not just about recreating the flavor of a favorite treat, it’s about recreating a feeling — the joy of summer connection with friends.”
Mara: That framing matters because it explains why Starbucks also launched two new additions alongside the returning classic. The S’mores Chai and S’mores Cold Brew are the innovations that sit next to the fan favorite, giving returning customers a reason to order something unfamiliar.
Pip: Dunkin’ took a different angle entirely — the Star-Spangled Summer Collection pairs a merch drop with its beverage launch, and the merch is not subtle. Eagles, rockets, a boat flag, matching swimwear. A bucket becoming a status symbol was apparently just the beginning.
Mara: The beverage lineup is substantial. Eleven new drinks ranging from the Fruit Punch Refresher — black cherry and pink pineapple mixed with lemonade — to the Dazzleberry Coolatta, which is blue raspberry with marshmallow cold foam and patriotic sprinkles.
Pip: Both brands are essentially selling a mood as much as a drink.
Mara: Which is exactly what the tequila category is also navigating — from a different angle.
Tequila Gets a Tropical Infusion
Mara: The tension in the tequila market right now is craft versus convenience — and Cazadores Pineapple Infused Tequila is trying to hold both.
Pip: Jay Needham, Bacardi’s Senior Global Brand Director for the brand, framed it directly: “This launch marks an exciting expansion for Tequila Cazadores as our first-ever infused tequila. Pineapple was a natural choice for the brand, driven by its growing popularity in cocktail culture and deep roots in Mexican cuisine and celebration.”
Mara: What that means in practice is a bottle that works as a simple pour over ice or as the base of a full cocktail. The brand’s featured recipe, the Cazadores Serranita, adds serrano chili, pineapple juice, and lime — so the infused tequila is a starting point, not a finished product.
Pip: A hundred years of agave craft, and the first flavor is pineapple. Bold, but the market data apparently agreed before the distillers did.
Mara: Speaking of culture shaping what people reach for — Sprite’s summer campaign is making that argument on a much larger canvas.
Sprite Taps Hip-Hop History as Living Culture
Pip: Sprite’s Living Tracklist campaign is asking a bigger question than most beverage launches attempt: what does it mean for a brand to be genuinely part of a cultural movement rather than just adjacent to it?
Mara: Chris Keyes, Director of Creative and Strategy for Sprite North America, addressed that directly: “Sprite has never been a brand that just shows up when hip-hop is trending. Sprite has been with the culture and of the culture since day one. The Living Tracklist is the truest expression of that commitment to intentionality. It wasn’t dreamed up in a boardroom, but in collaboration with the people and partners who shape the culture every day.”
Pip: That’s a high bar to set publicly. The campaign has to carry the weight of that claim.
Mara: The mechanics are substantial. Twenty-six limited-edition can designs, six illustrators, six decades of music — from Rapper’s Delight in the seventies through TGIF in the 2020s. A Genius-hosted microsite with lyrical and cultural deep dives, accessible by scanning a QR code. Available July through September, or while supplies last.
Pip: The post makes a pointed argument: hip-hop’s reach extended into First Amendment law, including a Supreme Court case. That’s the scale of cultural impact the campaign is trying to honor — not just playlist nostalgia.
Mara: The thread across all of this is brands trying to attach themselves to something that feels real — a season, a memory, a cultural moment.
Pip: Some earn it. Some buy a boat flag and hope for the best. Either way, summer has opinions, and apparently so does everyone selling drinks in it.
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