Case Study: The Creator Brand That Just Sold to Hershey

Hershey recently announced that it had acquired creator brand Sour Strips for an undisclosed fee. This acquisition is a huge win for the creator economy and we think it’s only the beginning of traditional brands acquiring creator companies.

• The Story of Sour Strips

• Why Sour Strips is a Unique Creator Brand

• What Sour Strips Did Well On Social

• What We’d Do Differently If We Were Running Their Socials

The Story of Sour Strips

Sour Strips was founded by YouTuber Maxx Chewning. Maxx started posting fitness content on YouTube back in 2011 and today he has over 380,000 subscribers on his channel where he posts vlogs documenting his journey as an entrepreneur, husband, Jeep owner, and dog Dad to his Goldendoodle named Dood.

In 2019, Maxx founded Sour Strips. A lover of sour candy, Maxx wanted to bring his own to the market and grow it to be one of the most popular sour brands in the world… fast forward to 2024 and he’s done just that. He recently posted the following on his Instagram:

“It is with great pride that I can officially announce that @sourstrips has been fully acquired by The @hersheycompany !!! The confectionary world is something I stepped into 5 years ago because of an authentic love for sour candy. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that one of the largest players in the space would see my vision and believe in it enough to bring it into their portfolio of amazing brands. I have always told you that my goal with Sour Strips was to make this into one of the most popular sour candy brands in the world and now that dream has a real chance to turn into a reality. Together, Hershey and my team can continue to innovate new ideas and bring smiles all across the globe. I will continue to lead the vision of the brand into the future and trust me when I say…This is only the beginning 🤟🏼”
^{Via @maxxchewning on Instagram}

Why Sour Strips is a Unique Creator Brand

The interesting thing about this particular creator led brand is that while Maxx the founder is a creator, he is not the face of the brand. Sour Strips has grown in popularity off the strength of its product and marketing, and not just because it was founded by creator.

If you look at the company’s Instagram you won’t see a picture of Maxx anywhere! In fact, you’d have to scroll back all the way to 2019, the year the company was founded to find a picture of him on the account. Now that doesn’t mean Maxx isn’t behind the scenes using his social media and content expertise to help grow the brand - he definitely was.

We think they’ve done such a great job on social that we decided to analyze their strategy. Scroll down to see two ways Sour Strips is crushing it on social, and two areas we think they could improve. Take these strategies and use them for your own brand… they are a big part of the reason Sour Strips just sold to Hershey for millions.