Steve Schroeder, blogger, artist, friend and proprietor of the States Rights brand, has been traipsing the country, criss-crossing the borders of those semi-autonomous principalities that are his music label's namesake. On the journey, he has encountered a handful of not-so-familiar co-brands, which he has generously shared with me periodically over email.

In New York City, Steve observed a Dunkin' Donuts/31 Flavors co-brand, that I must confess to have never seen before. The double desserts to be had behind the safety doors of this establishment can only be imagined.

Previously, I had encouraged States Rights recording artist Adam Forkner to seek out a co-branded eating establishment on a random summer night in Portland, OR. Back then, I erroneously believed Baskin-Robbins and Togo's Eateries, Inc. to be part of the Yum! Brands family: in large part due to the fact that these establishments have also been known to aggressively co-brand.

Since then, I have learned that, in fact, Togo's, B-R and Dunkin' Donuts are not Yum! Brands brands, but rather part of the Dunkin' Brands, Inc family. This may have been obvious to any lay person, but it was news (exciting news!) to me.

In short, the Dunkin' Brands brands co-branding strategy is in part a competitive response to the Yum! Brands brands co-branding strategy, a practice initiated circa 2002 after Yum!'s acquisition of Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food.

Gold Star Chili has locations in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, and proudly touts its standing as "the first free-standing chili restaurant in Cincinatti." This particular franchise, however, stands together with The Great Steak & Potato Co..

It is fascinating that two such companies, chiefly local in scope and with most locations company-owned, would have such a co-branded location. As there is no official union of the two brands at the corporate level (as far as I can tell), this particular location must be the result of two enterprising franchisees (or one franchisee of both restaurants) looking to adopt the co-branded strategy that objectively seems to be benefitting larger competitors in the Yum! and/or Dunkin' families. The pairing does seem to be an obvious fit, and it would be interesting if down the road the two brands did merge. The possibility of franchisee co-branding actually leading to a merger at the corporate level is incredible, though of course such a possibility is mere speculation.

White Castle is another privately held company, and in this case none of its U.S. locations are franchised. The fact that each location is company owned necessitates some kind of agreement at the corporate level, to "authorize" such a White Castle/Church's Chicken co-brand.

Apparently, Church's Chicken items were once available at Harvey's, but can no longer be found on the menu. The Church's/White Castle combo seems to be a similar co-venture, though I can only speculate at this point as to the nature of the agreement.

According to Church's official website, the company previously merged with Popeye's Chicken under the AFC Enterprises umbrella, but was bought in 2004 by Arcapita, Inc., another Atlanta-based private equity firm. Since being bought by Arcapita, Church's has pledged to expand their menu and grow the chain from 1,500 restaurants to 2,500 restaurants by 2010.

Such a bold commitment to extending the brand into new markets perhaps explains their motivation to enter into co-branded partnerships with the aforementioned Harvey's, and afore-pictured White Castle.

Thanks Steve!