Since 2022, comedian and social media personality Jake Shane (5.8 million combined Instagram and TikTok followers) has captured the internet’s attention with his viral Popsicle Ice Pop reveals. He had one obsession: the elusive Red Cherry Popsicle Ice Pop. With each reveal, fans became more invested – rooting for their own favorite colors to appear and hoping Jake would finally get a red.
But here’s the catch. Without actually seeing Jake remove the popsicle from each box, the mysterious white wrappers could have been any ice pop. When Popsicle had unexpectedly found itself at the center of this viral conversation, the brand chose not to sit on the sidelines. Instead, Popsicle entered the group chat and turned that moment into its own.
By partnering directly with Jake, Popsicle transformed a fan-driven obsession into a distinct brand-owned cultural moment, reclaiming its rightful place as the original ice pop while fueling an entirely new wave of love and nostalgia.
This partnership set out to achieve three clear goals:
Jake Shane’s Popsicle Reveals had already organically captured the attention of TikTok, with millions glued to every unwrapping and a dedicated community invested in his hunt for the elusive red cherry Popsicle. Jake’s humor and nostalgia were a perfect fit to renew brand love for Popsicle, so when the brand partnership came to fruition, the collaboration felt like the natural next chapter in a world fans were already following.
Led by a social-first approach, Jake was given creative autonomy to shape the narrative throughout. He wrote and performed skits, pranked his friends, and revealed the collab in the same playful style that made his original videos so beloved. Content was planned across TikTok, Instagram, and a special moment on his Therapuss podcast, without ever feeling forced.
Wave 1 introduced the partnership with a comical, light-hearted skit that took viewers back to the day the Popsicle was accidentally invented. It paved a clear runway into our next phase, the sweepstakes.
The payoff was Wave 2, a limited run of the All-Cherry Jake Shane Popsicle box, co-designed by Jake, so you could get all cherry, all the time. The box became the hero of a major reveal on Jake’s TikTok, then extended beyond his channels through curated mailers sent to his closest creator friends and a sweepstakes for 500 lucky fans. This combination of scarcity, insider access, peer-to-peer excitement – layered with Jake’s strong credibility and relationships within the creator community – sparked a second wave of organic content and conversation. This was further amplified by top-tier media outlets like People and Buzzfeed who couldn't get enough of the collaboration. Because Popsicle rarely runs limited time offers, this posed a production challenge, but the uniqueness of the opportunity pushed the team and cross-functional leads to bring the moment to life.
Wave 3 brought the story to Jake’s hit podcast, Therapuss, alongside his Kerry Washington (Scandal) episode. Jake shared with listeners the backstory of his red cherry obsession, taking them back to his childhood.
This partnership worked because Popsicle fit naturally into Jake’s world. The brand scaled something already resonating in culture and created a steady drumbeat of momentum through a phased approach. From product design and partnership announcement to sweepstakes rollout, Jake steered every element of the campaign to ensure it matched his eclectic, cherry-loving sensibility and felt instantly recognizable to his fans.
Popsicle gave fans repeated reasons to stay engaged and showed up in fun, fresh, and relevant ways true to Jake’s style. The result was a playful, talked about collaboration that showed up wherever his audience already spends time. And don’t just take it from us – Jake’s creator friend Tana Mongeau put it best in her own Popsicle reveal when she received Jake’s All-Cherry mailer, calling the collab “Everything” and saying she loves seeing brands that are “truly finger-on-the-pulse.”
The Popsicle x Jake Shane partnership reignited brand love, drove multi-platform engagement, and reclaimed Popsicle’s place as the original ice pop. What began as a fan-driven viral moment evolved into a campaign that met audiences where they were and turned social participation into brand affinity.
Through four creator posts, including one Instagram reel and three TikToks, the campaign reached 2.84 million views, nearly 4x the benchmark, and drove 380k engagements. View rates exceeded norms, with TikTok 4.3x and Instagram twice their respected averages. Nearly 70% of comments were directly about the collaboration, reflecting how naturally Popsicle fit into culture. Fans called it “the most iconic organic partnership,” while Jake described it as his “childhood dream come true.”
Momentum grew with the launch of a limited-edition All-Cherry box giveaway for 500 lucky fans and curated mailers to Jake’s friends, including Alix Earle and Tana Mongeau. The giveaway achieved a 100% post rate, generating 5 million views, 524k engagements, and 1.4 billion earned impressions with 100% positive sentiment. Top-tier media outlets including People, Campaign, and Buzzfeed amplified the story, while Jake’s “Therapuss” podcast debut for the All-Cherry Box drew nearly half a million impressions and 151k unique listeners.
Guided by Jake’s humor, nostalgia, and authentic love for Popsicle, his viral hunt for the elusive cherry Popsicle turned into a renewed emotional connection with fans and reminded them that Popsicle has, and always will be, the original ice pop.