Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams is known for its iconic partnerships, having collaborated with icons such as Dolly Parton and Tyler, The Creator, celebrating cultural phenomena with innovative and delicious ice cream flavors rooted in authenticity. The partnership with Ted Lasso was no different. When Ted Lasso was originally released in August 2020, it met a need much in the same way Jeni’s aspires to as a company — it made people feel good. The show became the light in the dark, a dose of hope during a challenging time in the world, so creating a collaboration flavor that captured that feeling felt natural for Jeni’s.
Biscuits with the Boss wraps the feel-good nature of the show into ice cream in an authentically delicious way, while also allowing fans of the show to feel as though they themselves are seated in Rebecca’s office. The daily ritual of homemade biscuits Ted shares with his boss is a deeply rooted part of the show, and one that fans came to identify with, craving the chance to indulge in the buttery, crumbly biscuits themselves while building connection. Jeni’s made that experience possible with the Biscuits with the Boss flavor.
In launching the collaboration ice cream, Jeni’s amplified the momentum and buzz surrounding the release of the third and final season of Ted Lasso, allowing the show to not only capture the hearts of viewers, but their taste buds as well.
At Jeni’s, everything starts with flavor. The ice cream had to have the power to transport customers to the pivotal moment in the show where Coach Lasso brings homemade biscuits to his boss every morning. That had to live up to the imagination of what those buttery cookies taste like—and meet the approval and standards of the show’s creators, as well. Jeni’s test kitchen worked through several iterations of Biscuits with the Boss, tweaking until the ice cream had a razor’s perfect balance of rich butter flavor, sea salt for a mouthwatering pop, and crumbly shortbread cookie pieces for texture. As with all Jeni’s flavors, Biscuits with the Boss is made with only the highest quality ingredients like grass-grazed dairy.
Ahead of the official launch, Jeni’s strategically generated buzz and anticipation for the flavor’s release in several phases to maximize reach and awareness. In fall 2022, Jeni’s partnered with Apple to seed shipments for the FYC Emmy campaign to drive interest and buzz with influential folks in Hollywood. This phase one outreach garnered 7.26M potential impressions (without Jeni’s ever making any formal public announcement). And search for the Ted Lasso flavor remained in the top 5 search queries on Jeni’s site through launch day in March 2023. Customers who searched for the flavor were directed to a landing page confirming the collaboration was coming soon and encouraging email sign up for the latest news.
Phase two kicked off in February 2023 when Jeni’s launched a 360-degree approach to drive as much reach as possible for key audiences. Pints and curated mailers that included an LTO “Ice cream is life” soccer scarf—tied to the show’s announcement of the premiere date—were sent to influencers, notable names, and both Ted Lasso and soccer fans. To get the flavor into the hands of media, Jeni’s popped up in national media offices in New York City with referees delivering pints of the ice cream, branded foosball tables and Ted x Jeni’s swag to allow media to interact with the limited edition flavor before its official launch and to inform their coverage. The brand targeted media outside the go-to food & beverage and lifestyle outlets, expanding to sports and entertainment publications to amplify the narrative, and in turn were able to reach an audience who had previously not considered Jeni’s.
On launch day, the flavor was released online, at select national retailers, and in Jeni’s scoop shops around the country, with a few surprise and delight moments for consumers, including access to limited-edition collaboration merch. By leveraging the momentum surrounding the show’s highly-anticipated premiere, Jeni’s was able to garner advanced interest in the collaboration flavor, generating significant media coverage and encouraging fans to sign up for more information on the launch.
The most successful launch in Jeni’s history, Biscuits with the Boss sold out in record time and garnered considerable attention from fans, media and the actors themselves. The most pints of a single flavor sold online in one day and the second highest online revenue in one day in Jeni’s history. The flavor sold out online in less than a week.
On social, Jeni’s Instagram announcement garnered more than 1.2M impressions. While shared media earned more than 140M impressions, including notable shares from celebrities (director James Gunn called the flavor “the best ice cream ever”), fans (several referenced treating the collab like a sneaker drop), and soccer authorities.
With 86 national media placements, garnering more than 1 billion impressions, the Jeni’s and Ted Lasso flavor was a core part of the narrative around the show itself. From the announcement through launch, Jeni’s captured 41% share of voice compared to competitors, dominating the conversation. The flavor garnered coverage in outlets including Dieline, People and USA Today. Media adored both the flavor and the partnership, with Mashed noting that it was “downright delicious” and Today Show anchors trying the flavor on-air and announcing it as “the next big thing.”
Media coverage underscored Jeni’s approach to partnerships and flavor, and how the brand continues to create innovative campaigns tied to cultural phenomena. Tasting Table summed up the authentic collaboration with “like many of the offerings at Jeni’s, the Ted Lasso flavor has a story... following a trend with previous Jeni’s collaborations.”
