Oreo is collaborating with anyone and everyone these days. Some of these collaborations have created insanely popular hits, like the BTS and Post Malone packs. Others have been total misses. Where the KFC x Oreo China Fried Chicken Cookie stands is… up to you.
As part of Oreo’s “Playful Time Travel” collection, the fried chicken cookie came out alongside another weird combination: Retro Popcorn. I am personally interested (and slightly mortified) to see how the collection continues with more flavor drops.
The odd combo kept the classic chocolate cookies but replaced the filling with an 11-seasoning spice blend-flavored cream. The seasoning includes herbs, spices, and salt, emulating the classic batter KFC uses. One side of the cookie has Oreo’s regular logo, but the other side includes KFC’s branding. The choice not to use a savory cracker to hold the salty cream is baffling to me, but I’ll wait to judge.
And I’ll have to wait a long time, if not forever. The two new cookie flavors went on sale on July 31, but only in China. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you feel about chocolate and fried chicken flavor profiles interacting), Oreo China is not selling the cookies anywhere else—yet.
Oreo and KFC are both notorious for producing odd flavor combinations, for the love of the game, it seems. Last year, KFC turned its gravy into an ice cream flavor, and Oreo created a Thanksgiving pack that included flavors like Turkey & Stuffing and Creamed Corn. I’m not sure who is buying these, and honestly, I am wholeheartedly afraid of anybody who does. Are they the equivalent of people who like the popcorn and toothpaste-flavored jellybeans? Maybe. But I still hope, for their sakes, the KFC and Retro Popcorn Oreos will be coming to the rest of the world soon.