Oreo Puts Twist on Social Messaging With New Global App

DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Oreo cookies are taking on the universe with Oreo Skies, a new star chart messaging application (app). The classic cookie brand teamed with Nokia to develop a smartphone app that connects people in a way that has never been done before: through the stars, according to Mondelez International Inc.

Oreo Skies, available exclusively on Nokia Lumia Windows smartphones, lets users write messages and attach them to actual constellations revealed in the app. They can point their devices at the sky at any time in the day or night to explore a map of stars and constellations. When they touch a star that is part of a constellation, it will twist open like an Oreo cookie to show a message left for one or more friends. Users can search the Oreo Skies universe for specific stars, and friends can retrieve their messages by following a compass located in the upper-right corner of the display.

Users can also uncover messages from the Oreo brand in the form of shooting stars that periodically cross the screen. These stars contain special offers, recipes and incentives. Celestial facts and video content from astrophysicist Dr. Robert Kirshner, Clowes Professor of Science at Harvard University, is also available.

The person who sends the most messages during a lunar cycle, or every 30 days, will "own the moon" for the next lunar cycle and can place a special message on the moon that all Oreo Skies users will see. A real-time leaderboard will track users.

Additionally, Oreo fans without smartphones won't be left out -- mobile and desktop versions of the app are available on Facebook, along with the leaderboard.

"The Mondelez International Mobile Innovation Lab with Nokia is a key component of our mobile strategy, together with our incubation program, Mobile Futures," said Bonin Bough, vice president for global media and consumer engagement at Mondelez International. "It is meant to be an experimentation lab aimed at pushing the envelope of technology and reinventing mobile experiences. Over the past year, we've been exploring different brands and platforms, and we're excited to launch the Oreo Skies app into the marketplace as a result of the partnership."