Space Dunk Oreos Are Interstellar Fun

New limited-time Space Dunk Oreos are rolling out on store shelves starting today, January 31. They follow the trend of big brands creating flavors "inspired by space," such as Coca-Cola's unusual Starlight flavor. Except this package might actually send you to space.

Attached to the new Oreo product launch is a giveaway in which a winner will get to enjoy a meal and cocktail service in a vessel with the largest windows ever flown to space, reaching a maximum height of 100,000 feet above the earth's surface. The giveaway is in partnership with Space Perspective, a space flight experience company. For those of us who won't win that prize, well, we're stuck being boring terrestrials. But hey, we can at least join in on the fun by eating some new hypercolored Oreos on Earth.

The new Space Dunk Oreos are visually arresting to an almost cartoonish degree. The filling is a combination of bright blue and magenta creme, and there's a small hole in the center of each cookie, a sort of porthole through which you can spy the color of the frosting beneath it. It's a small detail, but a fun one. Oreo says that this is the first time it has ever put a hole in one of its cookies.

Oreo's description of the "cosmic creme" in the center is marshmallow flavor with popping candies mixed in. My first bite confirmed the marshmallow notes, which I've always thought tasted pleasant, even mildly artificial-berry-ish. It's more like a Lucky Charms marshmallow flavor than a Jet Puff one.

Then the popping candies kick in. The little Pop Rocks–like crystals start crackling in your mouth, and it's hard not to get at least a little enjoyment out of that. All these details in concert add up to a really fun overall gimmick, one that admittedly doesn't exactly evoke space journeys, rocket ships, stars, or the moon. It's just innocent joy.

And there's nothing wrong with that. Some brands have been so preoccupied by being silly that they've relied on shock value rather than taste and straightforward execution. Oreo is known for playing with its flavors (there always seems to be a new one, including the Space Dunk variety), but in this case, the playfulness turns out to be a boon for us casual cookie enjoyers.

If you see them at your nearest supermarket, I say go for them. We could all use a little bit of distraction, especially these days. This one just comes in a space-age form of one of the world's most familiar cookies.