KNOXVILLE, MARYVILLE, PIGEON FORGE - Every year, the internet collectively decides it’s fall long before the weather gets the memo. Sweaters come out of storage. Pumpkin spice returns. Autumn mood boards take over social feeds. Meanwhile, it’s still 85 degrees outside.

SONIC® is playfully embracing the annual rush to declare fall’s arrival with Hotumn – a limited-time lineup of autumn-inspired beverages made for people who are mentally in fall but physically still in August. As the original destination for customizable drinks and dirty sodas, SONIC is giving guests all the cozy flavors they crave this time of year, but serving them the way late-summer weather demands: ice cold.

Available at participating locations nationwide and in the SONIC® App beginning August 24, Hotumn celebrates that familiar stretch of the year when guests are ready for pumpkin patches, crunchy leaves and fall flavors, but the forecast is still stuck in summer. The limited-time lineup includes:

• Cherry Pie made with Coke®: A blend of cherry and vanilla flavors and sweet cream infused in Coca-Cola®, topped with a cherry
• Blueberry Pie made with Dr Pepper®: A blend of blueberry puree, vanilla flavor and sweet cream infused in crisp Dr Pepper®
• Harvest Berry made with Sprite®: A blend of wildberry puree, cranberry and vanilla flavors infused in crisp Sprite®
• Cranberry Orchard Sweet Tea: A blend of peach puree and cranberry flavor infused in freshly brewed Sweet Iced Tea

Guests can find the Hotumn drink lineup in the SONIC App for easy ordering.

“SONIC has been serving up fun, customizable drinks long before dirty sodas became a trend,” said Ryan Dickerson, Chief Marketing Officer at SONIC. “In many parts of the country, it’s still way too hot for a steaming latte. We saw an opportunity to join the fall beverage conversation in a fun way and bring a little SONIC personality to a seasonal tradition people look forward to every year. We’re putting our own spin on what a fall drink moment can look like with Hotumn – and it’s not a hot drink.”

No one understands this phenomenon better than Caitlin Covington, whose iconic fall photos have become one of the internet’s most recognizable signals that autumn has arrived. That’s why SONIC partnered with Covington to officially declare the start of Hotumn, a season for people whose hearts say hayrides, but whose weather apps say heat advisory.

In a new social campaign, Covington humorously recreates one of the most beloved and recognizable photos while sipping the new SONIC Hotumn drink lineup, proving that even if it’s still hot outside, it’s never too early to embrace fall flavors.

Hotumn: that glorious stretch of the year when people are craving fall flavors, but it’s still far too hot for a steaming pumpkin spice latte. Instead, reach for something ice cold at SONIC.

The limited-time Hotumn drink lineup will be at participating locations nationwide and under the Hotumn Drinks section of the SONIC App starting August 24.

 For more information, visit SONICDriveIn.com and InspireBrands.com.