Life

7-Eleven Launched A Nerds Slurpee That Combine Your Two Favorite Nerds Flavors

by Mia Mercado
7-Eleven, shopped by Bustle

In honor of back-to-school season, 7-Eleven is bringing you something to soothe the pain of returning to your backpack-toting days. Starting now, 7-Eleven has Nerds Slurpees that combine two of the candy’s most iconic flavors in one: Seriously Strawberry and Gotta-Have Grape. The result is a lilac purple Slurpee that’s almost too pretty to drink. Almost.

In collaboration with Ferrara Candy Company, the maker of Nerds, 7-Eleven developed an exclusive Slurpee flavor they describe as “delicious, tangy Grape and Strawberry that taste just like your favorite NERDS candy.” In case two flavors in one weren’t enough, a medium Slurpee is available for just $1. A buck. A single American dollar. That almost makes the return of school supplies to Target aisles a little less painful.

Aside from $1 sugary drinks that taste like sugary snacks, nothing brings me joy quite like extremely serious press release quotes on sugary drinks that taste like sugary snacks. So, enjoy this one from Jacob Barnes, 7-Eleven proprietary beverages product director. "Slurpee customers, particularly younger ones, love to create fun frozen treats by mixing their favorite candy and Slurpee flavors.” You heard it here, folks, the youth love candy!

Barnes continued, “When we started hearing social media chatter that people were suggesting we come out with a NERDS Slurpee, we thought it was a great idea. And, if Slurpee fans want to mix their NERDS Slurpee drinks with NERDS candy, even better. NERDS candy is one of the best-selling non-chocolate candy brands in our stores.” Yes, that is permission from an adult product director to go forth and put candy in your candy-flavored drinks. Nothing and no one is stopping you.

“NERDS is excited to be collaborating with 7-Eleven to deliver an interactive and a one-of-a-kind Slurpee experience,” Katie Duffy, senior director of Marketing, Ferrara Candy Company, said in the press release. “Fans will be able to ‘nerd out’ with 7-Eleven and NERDS candy this fall.”

Duffy is referring to the marketing campaign which involves disguising two Slurpee trucks as yellow school buses in honor of the NERDS Slurpee 2019 College Tour. What could such a tour entail? I am so glad I asked. The buses, “full of the whimsical NERDS characters,” will visit college campuses and sporting events in certain locations across the country to hand out free samples of the Nerds-flavored Slurpee and packages of NERDS candy. I am assuming by “Nerds characters” they are referring to the bulbous, monotone creatures on the candy’s box. Would life-size versions of these characters be a blessing? A curse? A candy-induced hallucination? All three?

Per the press release, the NERDS Slurpee 2019 College Tour will make stops in Texas and the Midwest this fall. As for the exact dates of the tour stops, the release says to “look for Slurpee social media posts on Instagram and Twitter.” They’ll be the ones featuring the lumpy cartoon candy people.

If you aren’t able to get to 7-Eleven before the limited-edition Slurpee is gone, have no fear: you still have options when it comes to sugary, icy, Nerd-spiked drinks. Sonic has two different Nerds slushes: a blue raspberry and a grape, both mixed with a rainbow assortment of Nerds candy. Unlike 7-Eleven’s Slurpees, Sonic’s Nerds Slushes come with Nerds actually mixed into the drink. Not sure if that’s a pro or a con. That is a texture combination of which I am dubious.

This isn’t 7-Eleven’s first foray into candy-themed drinks. Earlier this year, 7-Eleven partnered with Jones soda for an exclusive Airheads soda. The drink was Cherry Pineapple Blast flavored and only available for a limited time. Earlier this summer, 7-Eleven ran their eponymous 7-Eleven Day on July 11 — get it? Like 7/11? If not, Beyonce would be ashamed. This year’s deals included free small Slurpees in Blueberry Lemonade or sugar-free Cherry Limeade. Like the free Slurpees of 7-Eleven Day, these Nerds Slurpees will only be around for a limited time.

Slurpee on, friends.