Yung Gravy on his ‘smooth’ new track for Dr Pepper’s Strawberries & Cream soda

After endorsing some restaurant brands, Yung Gravy is expanding the “Gravy-sphere” with a beverage campaign—recording a track and helping to design a line of merchandise for Dr Pepper’s new Strawberries & Cream soda. Last seen partnering with Jimmy John’s and Pizza Hut, the rapper has crafted a track for Dr Pepper called “Strawberries & Creamin’.” The two-minute song—which features a “Dr. Clean” refrain reminiscent of “Mr. Clean,” Gravy’s original breakthrough hit on Soundcloud—supports the recent launch of Dr Pepper Strawberries & Cream soda. Ad Age Creativity Bookmark our section covering the best in brand creativity every day Read more here The track comes with a music video set in an animated world, with a Gravy avatar hanging out with a sidekick who has a Strawberries & Cream can for a head. Their hijinks include performing a concert where they spray the soda, pyrotechnics style, on adoring fans. There are also flashy cars, pool parties and a blinged-out pink tiger. The creative was handled by ad agency Deutsch LA. Gravy, aka Matthew Hauri, told Ad Age this is the first time he’s created a track for a brand. He said the Dr Pepper offer came with significant creative control and a vibe he felt meshed well with his own brand. “If it’s going on my social media, I want it to be something I would put up anyway,” he said. “If the brand is willing to follow that sort of creative approach, which Dr Pepper absolutely was, then I’m into it. It’s a cool look for both sides if you do it right.” More news: See Camila Cabello in Olipop's first major campaign Hauri worked with longtime collaborator Diamond Pistols on the music. He said there was some brand oversight, but not a ton. “We agreed we wouldn’t even send anything to them unless we could make something we really liked,” he said. “We made the whole beat and the flows and everything the day before we even met up. We wanted to keep the sample sound and keep it happy. So we made our own sample with my voice and him playing some saxophone. It came out good.” Dr Pepper had some input on the lyrics, but they were mostly aligned there, too. “We initially wrote enough lyrics for them to sort of pick,” he said. “We had to change a few things, but we were mostly on the same page. Obviously strawberries and cream is the theme, and there’s only so far you can go with that. So we sort of took classic rap lyrics and terminology and made it into a pop song about pop. It worked out well.” The whole thing—product, track, his brand and Dr Pepper’s—just all meshed seamlessly, Hauri added. “It’s cool, refreshing, smooth. And that’s kind of what I go for,” he said. “Strawberries and cream, the whole colorway and flavor and everything—I thought it was perfect.” Hauri said he was impressed by the details of the music video in particular and how it reflected things from his past. “There’s a lot of stuff in in there, like previous album covers and other things I’ve mentioned,” he said. “They managed to make it funny without looking dumb, which is pretty hard to do.” The campaign also features a limited-edition three-piece merch line, featuring a silk-collared shirt modeled after the rapper’s signature button-downs, custom vinyl-inspired drink coasters and a gravy boat. “I was excited about this,” Hauri said. “My design guy [Dakota Knight] and I have wanted to do something like this for a long time—a silk button-up. And the color scheme is perfect. And the gravy boat is just awesome. I love how it came out.” The whole project, he said, nicely extends his “Gravy-sphere of branding.” He added: “I think, honestly, Dr Pepper is my favorite [campaign] so far.” The merch will be available exclusively on social commerce marketplace NTWRK. Only 23 merch bundles will be made available for $1.23 (a reference to Dr Pepper’s 23 flavors). For a chance to buy one, consumers must enter a drawing on the NTWRK app. The contest runs through May 11, when NTWRK will choose the winners on a livestream. “Yung Gravy’s playful energy and distinct persona have captivated his audience, and we can’t wait to see what Dr Pepper and Yung Gravy fans think of the new track and merchandise line, which leans into both our brand and Yung Gravy’s creativity and uniqueness,” John Alvarado, senior VP of Dr Pepper brand marketing, said in a statement.

Yung Gravy on his ‘smooth’ new track for Dr Pepper’s Strawberries & Cream soda

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