As Tim Hortons looks to amp up innovation on its menu, it’s turned to one of its biggest fans for help.
Canadian pop star Justin Bieber has teamed with the coffee-and-donut chain on a new line of flavor combinations for its popular Timbits donut treats.
Three new flavors—Chocolate White Fudge, Sour Cream Chocolate Chip, and Birthday Cake Waffle—were developed in a collaboration between the “Peaches” singer and Chef Tallis Voakes, Tim Hortons’ director of culinary innovation. Renamed “TimBiebs,” the limited-edition flavors arrive at Tim Hortons locations in the U.S. and Canada on Nov. 29.
In Bieber, Tim Hortons has captured a superfan—and sometime critic—of the iconic brand. In 2019, Bieber led an ultimately unsuccessful effort to encourage the chain to change the style of lids on its coffee cups. Thousands of Bieber’s social-media followers supported his contention that the new lids, designed to be more environmentally friendly than their predecessors, made its coffee more difficult to drink.
However small, the skirmish demonstrated Bieber knows what Tim Hortons fans want, and that message comes through in a 60-second spot produced by the agency Gut to support the launch. In the spot, Bieber brainstorms with a Tim Hortons executive who enthusiastically jots his ideas onto a whiteboard and encourages even his worst proposals.