Apple comes with Ted Lasso ice cream, but that’s not the strangest thing by far

It is not uncommon for tech companies to enter into partnerships with other companies. For example, Honda and Sony showed the Afeela (popularly called the PlayStation Car) at CES. And did you know that there is a KFC smartphone from Huawei? Apple has also ventured into a collaboration. Check out this Ted Lasso ice cream and five other examples.

Sometimes companies enter into a long-term partnership. This can be a special product line, for example, and sometimes those collaborations are intended for promotion or as a stunt. Apple has also done this kind of thing and we’ve found five of the weirdest or most unusual collaborations.

Apple ventures into Ted Lasso ice cream

During the Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso football club owner Rebecca eats away a large amount of cookies that Ted Lasso bakes for her. Ever wondered how these taste? If you live in the US, you can score a Jeni’s x Ted Lasso: Biscuits with the Boss from March 2 at the ice cream chain Jenni’s Splendid Ice Creams, in honor of the show’s first episode.

#1 Apple shoved U2 down your throat

The one we’d like to forget but can’t is the day Apple users suddenly had a whole new U2 album on our devices whether we wanted it or not.

On September 9, 2014, Apple donated the new album Songs of Innocence from U2 to anyone with an iTunes account. Actually it was forced on us; we had no choice in the matter. Apple seemed surprised by the backlash, but boldly issued instructions on how to remove the album. Of course they could have also opted for the option to download the album, but hey.

#2 Apple’s gold Earpods

In 2013, when Jony Ive was the senior vice president of design at Apple, he teamed up with designer Marc Newson to create some unique items. With this they wanted to raise money for PRODUCT(RED), the charity led by U2’s Bono.

One of the results of this collaboration was Apple’s solid rose gold EarPods, which were sold by auction house Sotheby’s in New York. Sotheby’s estimated that the blingy EarPods would retail for between $20,000 and $25,000. But they ended up selling for an astonishing $461,000.

#3 Did you know the company made a camera?

In the early days of digital photography, Apple made a digital camera called QuickTake. The Apple QuickTake 100 was first shown at Tokyo Macworld in 1994 and released later that year.

The first two models, the 100 and 150, were built by Kodak; the third and final model, the 200, was built by Fujifilm. What did you get for your $749? The QuickTake 100 had a built-in flash but no focus, exposure or zoom controls. Oh and it could hold up to eight photos at 640×480 resolution or 32 photos at 320×240 (or a mix of both).

#4 Apple x Victorinox: Apple Swiss Army Knife

Okay, this one isn’t that weird, but it’s cool. While the multi-featured iPhone has been described as a “modern Swiss Army Knife,” there really is an Apple Swiss Army Knife. It came out in the early ’90s, and it’s really just a regular Swiss Army knife with an Apple logo on one side.

#5 The Disney pin

As all Disney pin collectors know, the rarer the pin, the more valuable. This pin is sure to bring in a pretty penny. In 1991, Bruce Gordon, Creative Director of Walt Disney Imagineering, designed this adorable pin specifically to be given to members of the Macintosh User Group at Disney studios.

Although the pin was well received by the designers, Disney management quickly withdrew the pins. Why? Disney wanted to remove Mickey’s apparent endorsement of Mac computers. The pins were later re-released as The Mac Club, but it’s the earlier design that collectors crave. Such a pin turns up on eBay for hefty amounts.

Which other collaborations did you find strange or really cool?