Kyle Busch’s longstanding Mars sponsorship led to a plethora of promotional paint schemes to highlight seasonal or limited-release candies, but only one was intended to leave a bad taste in the mouths of those that tried them; Zombie Skittles. For Busch, however, his one-hit wonder Zombie Skittles promo ended with a taste of champagne — figuratively, at least — as he was a winner in the one-time scheme.
Released in 2019 ahead of Halloween, Zombie Skittles combined five fruity flavors in a pack, including Petrifying Citrus Punch, Mummified Melon, Boogeyman Blackberry, Chilling Black Cherry, and Blood Red Berry. But lurking among these flavors, and hidden by a candy shell that matched the “normal” flavors, were select Skittles pieces that tasted of “rotten zombie.” Of course, Mars encouraged those who purchased Zombie Skittles to do a little promoting of their own by sharing their experience of eating the “utterly disgusting” hidden flavor and promoting it on Instagram with #DareTheRainbow.
The PR strategy worked as, sure enough, a bevy of articles were written and videos published highlighting the gamble that was eating a pack of Zombie Skittles. There was no real consensus on the flavor of “rotten zombie,” but it was compared to such foul tastes as rotten egg, vomit, cat urine, and more.
The campaign’s success likely led to Mars bringing back Zombie Skittles ahead of Halloween 2020. That year, the PR push also included a one-off Zombie Skittles Kyle Busch No. 18 Toyota.
The silver scheme, highlighted with sweeping rainbows and colorful Skittle pieces, made its lone appearance in the 2020 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Eventually, Busch suggested the entire field were zombies throughout the race week, as more than three days passed between the drop of the green flag and the checkered.
The 34th race of the season, and second in the Round 8 in the NASCAR playoffs, began on Sunday as scheduled, but after just 52 laps the race was red-flagged for rain. That rain didn’t let up enough for the race to resume until more than 72 hours later.
When racing finally restarted that Wednesday afternoon, Busch worked his way from just outside the top 10 to win the second stage. The No. 18 JGR team opted for a fuel savings strategy by not pitting during the stage break. Busch stretched his fuel and made his final pit stop with 66 laps remaining, which would force him to drive conservatively, but it was potentially enough fuel to make it to the end of the race.
Ultimately, it was.
Busch saved enough fuel to take the win just head of teammate and playoff-contender Martin Truex Jr., though Busch’s post-race burnout was cut short as his Toyota coughed to a stop with nothing left in the tank.
Busch had been knocked out of the playoffs in the Round of 12, but his win at Texas extended his streak of at least one win in the Cup Series each season to 16 years. His prior win was at Homestead in 2019 to secure his second Cup championship.
The Zombie Skittles Camry had an extensive run as a diecast, thanks in part to Busch’s win. It was released in Lionel’s 1/64 Gold Series and in Wave 3 of the 2021 NASCAR Authentics line. A 1/64 hauler was also released in the Authentics line. The 1/24 production rundown for the 2020 Zombie Skittles car is as follows:
ARC: 852 units
Elite: 372 units
ARC Raced Win: 1,908 units
Elite Raced Win: 1,058 units
ARC Autographed Raced Win: 72 units
With the extensive run, Busch’s one-hit wonder is readily available to purchase as of this writing. Most 1/24 “clean” and Raced Win versions commanded around $60. An exception was one of the 72 autographed Raced Win versions that sold for $195. Gold Series 1/64s sold between $15-$25 in the box.
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