The 2022 Ford Maverick is already a smash hit for the automaker even though not a single unit has been delivered. As of this writing, nearly 75,000 reservations have been placed for the compact hybrid truck. Ford realized there was another truck niche to be filled and it moved fast to make it happen. Team bonding was essential because of the long days working in a secret room at the Ford Product Development Center in Dearborn, Michigan. How did Team Maverick find its groove? Through food. Lots of food. Mainly Oreo cookies.

Speaking to the Detroit Free Press, Katie Pecoraro, a Maverick program management supervisor said "We cut 20 months out of the usual time frame for a product life cycle. This being a go-fast product, we used different ways of working to be more efficient and effective."

For example, top executives came directly to the center to check up on progress rather than the usual management red tape. As for the food, the final eight-week sprint when no design or engineering changes could be made because suppliers had to begin making parts was "pretty intense" so morale boosters were necessary. The team honored national hot dog day and ate corned beef on St. Patrick's Day.

Then came the sweets like Starburst candy, donuts, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream sundaes, and Oreos. The latter took center stage for a reason no one knows exactly why. It's not like team members were complaining because a variety of Oreo cakes were served and baked by Pecoraro, a devout Oreo lover.

"We had chocolate peanut butter pie. One of my favorites was a limited-edition watermelon, which we didn't actually serve. But we had maple, carrot cake, mint, red velvet, birthday cake, s'mores, rocky road. They had apple pie Oreos, where the actual cookie was graham cracker."

Around 100 packages of the cookies were consumed in the final weeks before the truck's final deadline. Nabisco, Oreo's parent company, found out about the team's obsession (and that they displayed empty Oreo packaging on the walls) and asked them to participate in the "Oreo Thins Protection Program," a promotion that gives away packs of thin Oreos in special wrapping designed to help hide them from kids.

Now that the Maverick has been revealed, maybe its development team should start hitting the gym together.