Since opening on Bend’s east side this summer, Utah based franchise Crumbl Cookies has turned customers into a captive audience with its rotating menu and divisive flavor offerings. While the cookies may be mediocre, the innovative business model keeps teenagers coming back for more.

Crumbl has been a fixture in many states since 2017, but didn’t arrive in Central Oregon until recent months. The menu is simple, featuring 5-6 different cookies varying in quality. Chocolate Chip remains a staple every week, while more innovative flavors like Everything Bagel and Key Lime Pie are often only available for 7 days.

This innovative business model is reminiscent of the so-called hype sneaker brands try to create, rather than the traditional menu seen at most food and beverage establishments. Instead of striving to create the most mouth watering cookies on the market, Crumbl relies on exclusivity and word of mouth to keep customers coming back.

The brand knows how to use social media to its advantage. Each week, the newest flavors are posted on Crumbl’s Instagram, and reviews quickly flood other online platforms. People see their friends trying out new flavors every week, and feel the need to pay a visit instantaneously before certain flavors disappear. The cookies themselves are often dry, flavorless, or sickenly sweet. But, to Crumbl’s primarily teenage customers, this doesn’t matter.