Lindsay Lohan Nods to 'Parent Trap' in REESE'S OREO 1st Birthday Ad

The Hershey Company is marking one year of the REESE'S OREO Cup with a comedy spot starring Lindsay Lohan and Amy Sedaris.

Patricia Arquette directs her first commercial behind the camera, with Juxtapose Studio leading creative production.

The film riffs on the iconic 1998 movie "The Parent Trap," in which Lohan plays twin girls.

This time, she plays a therapist at the fictional Reese's Twin Retreat. Sedaris plays the siblings she is hired to reconcile.

The twin pairing of REESE'S and OREO echoes what fans spent years imagining before it became real.

Melissa Blette, senior brand manager at The Hershey Company, framed the launch as an answer to a conversation consumers were already having.

"The best innovations become part of culture because they tap into something consumers already care about."

The Cup has generated more than $188 million in retail sales since reaching stores in September 2025.

And Hershey calls it Reese's top innovation of 2025.

Twin Retreat Gag Points Back to Fan Mashups

"Two Fated Icons" centers on a fictional wellness retreat where Lohan counsels feuding twins, a playful callback to her dual acting role.

Sedaris mines the comedy of people who share a face and agree on nothing.

Meanwhile, Lohan walks them through bonding exercises that go nowhere.

The breakthrough arrives when Lohan points out the one snack they both like, Reese's with Oreo.

Lohan then produces the REESE'S OREO Cup, framing it as "destiny fulfilled."

Then suddenly, a third sister walks in, disheveled from whatever chaos she was causing outside.

Lohan realizes she is looking at triplets and faints, the way her "The Parent Trap" character used to do.

"Working on this campaign has been such a fun experience, and it's been amazing to see fans embrace this collaboration."

"Getting to share this and work with Amy and Patricia makes it even more special," Lohan said in a press release.

The script pulls directly from what fans were already making.

For years, consumers posted homemade mashups, mock packaging, and wish lists across social media.

Hershey and Mondelēz International answered with two products in September 2025, and the Cup earned a permanent slot in the Reese's lineup.

Writing the fan origin into the plot lets Reese's restate its proof point without a voiceover doing the work.

This kind of product innovation story is hard to manufacture after a launch.

$188 Million Puts a Price on Fan Requests

The $188 million the Cup earned in its first year puts a number on demand that existed before Hershey ran a single ad.

Hershey also credits the Cup with pulling new and younger buyers into the Reese's franchise.

Sales tell Hershey that the mashup sold, while retention would tell it whether the same buyers came back for a second cup.

Hershey almost certainly has these numbers on file, since the size of this anniversary campaign says enough about what they show.

Companies rarely hire three marquee names to celebrate a product that stalled after its first quarter.

The product's first anniversary campaign offers lessons for marketers evaluating fan-driven innovation.

• Treat recurring requests as demand data. Comments and homemade versions pile up over the years and show which ideas already have buyers waiting.
• Write the origin into the creative. Audiences who requested a product will recognize their own role in the story.
• Measure the second purchase. Retention tells you whether a mashup earned a permanent slot in the lineup.

Co-branding lets each company recruit the other's shoppers while keeping its own positioning intact, and few marketing tactics offer both at once.

Our Take: Why Cast Gen X Icons to Reach Gen Z?

Hershey aimed this campaign at people who were already reaching for the Cup.

We think that it aimed the casting at the adults pushing the cart, since parents pay for the multipack their kids empty.

The people who built this demand were also posting mashups on TikTok, where a 1998 movie reference reads as a meme about their parents.

Reese's already proved it can sell on absurdity alone with its 2025 Super Bowl spot about people running toward real lava, mistaking it for a Big Lava Cup.

Lohan gives Reese's something the lava gag never could, which is a reference that consumers recognize and something the kid can screenshot.

REESE'S OREO Cup now holds a nostalgia asset with room to run, since Disney reportedly has a "Parent Trap" sequel in development with Lohan still in the dual role.

Campaigns like this highlight the value of creative strategy rooted in consumer behavior and production.

Explore these top creative agencies to find partners that translate audience insights into campaigns with long-term business impact.