- Yung Gravy teams up with MUG Root Beer on "Float Float Baby," a parody remix of "Ice Ice Baby"
- The track and video celebrate the launch of MUG Root Beer Floats Vanilla Howler, the brand's first-ever limited-edition flavor
- The limited "Float Float Baby" poolside bundle (floatie, beach ball, 12-pack) drops on TikTok Shop for $16
- The campaign continues PepsiCo's run of pairing root beer with pop culture, mirroring George Kittle's recent MUG tie-in
MUG Root Beer just turned a 90s classic into summer’s silliest soda anthem. The brand has linked with multi-platinum artist Yung Gravy on “Float Float Baby,” a parody remix of “Ice Ice Baby,” to launch MUG Root Beer Floats Vanilla Howler, the brand’s first-ever limited-edition flavor, blending classic root beer with a creamy, dirty-soda-inspired vanilla twist.
The track and music video star Gravy alongside MUG’s mascot Dog, leaning hard into nostalgic 90s energy. “It was a great honor linking with MUG and remixing the iconic ‘Ice Ice Baby,'” Gravy said.
MUG’s VP of Marketing, Michael Smith, added that the brand wanted to make its first flavor drop “bigger, bolder and a little more unexpected.”
Fans can extend the bit with a $16 poolside bundle, a “Float Float Baby” inner tube, a Dog-faced beach ball, and a 12-pack of the new flavor, sold exclusively through MUG’s TikTok Shop while supplies last.
For Gravy, this slots into a steady stream of brand work; he’s previously fronted campaigns for Martha Stewart, Audible, Venmo, Samsung, and Jimmy John’s, and became an unofficial mascot of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
MUG, meanwhile, has been busy stacking celebrity tie-ins around its root beer lineup this year. The brand recently put NFL star George Kittle front and center for its Brotein Gainz campaign. Much like MacKenzie Carpenter’s debut national deal with Beer Girl, this deal shows brands leaning into celebrity authenticity over just reach.
Takeaways
Soda brands are increasingly borrowing the music industry’s playbook: parody songs, mascots-as-characters, TikTok Shop exclusives, to make legacy products feel current.
MUG turning to Gravy’s genre-bending, nostalgia-driven sound for its very first flavor launch shows just how much weight a single artist pairing can carry for a brand reintroducing itself to Gen Z.
Does a parody remix do more for brand recall than a straightforward jingle ever could? Is Yung Gravy becoming soda’s go-to nostalgia act, the way Martha Stewart became his go-to comedic foil? Could TikTok Shop exclusivity become the new standard for limited-run merch drops tied to music campaigns?
