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Category
Popular Culture Impact
Annual ID
OS23_CD018M
About the Work
Cheetos lovers know all about getting their fingertips a little — okay, a lot — messy.
Yet, just 1.4% of Canadians knew the official term for the iconic orange dust on their fingertips:
Cheetle. Some love it, some less so, but those orange fingertips are what make Cheetos, well,
Cheetos.
With the brand’s top of mind awareness stagnating, we wanted to turn what people wash off into
a point of pride for both the snack and its passionate core.
Fun fact: Alberta, Canada has a particular penchant for oversized food landmarks. When we
discovered Cheadle, a tiny Albertan hamlet of 83, we knew what we had to do: build a 17-foot
statue of a hand holding a Cheetos Puffs snack, its Cheetle-covered fingertips proudly on
display.
We erected the statue with no fanfare. No pre-roll or social ads. We grabbed a bag of Cheetos,
sat back, and waited.
What started as a few accidental drivebys quickly turned into pilgrimages of thousands daily,
many traveling across Canada for a selfie with the statue.
In no time, top-tier media took what began as a regional story across Canada, then North
America… then the globe. Tweets, ‘grams and Tik Toks filled feeds. Memes from brands
capitalized on our spotlight. It was added to Cheadle’s Wikipedia page, Don Cheadle’s
Wikipedia profile pic, and designated a “historical landmark” on Google Maps.
With $0 spent on influencers and only $5k on paid media:
* 2.2 BILLION impressions from top tier global media coverage, from CNN to Seth Myers and
Jimmys Fallon and Kimmel, plus outlets in 15 countries including Australia, Cyprus, India,
Philippines, Thailand, Russia, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia.
* 1,103 earned traditional hits and 777 earned social hits, the most successful PepsiCo
Foods Canada PR campaign in history
* “Cheetle” mentions increased +1,750% (surpassing goal by… a zillion percent)
* +17% positive sentiment shift (for synonyms of Cheetos Dust vs 2021)
* 47% increase in Regional sales of Cheetos Puffs snacks
* 23% increase in National sales of Cheetos Puffs snacks
Most importantly… Don Cheadle told Jimmy Kimmel he’d put it on his lawn. For real.
2023 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit
Credits
PR / Marketing Agency
Citizen Relations / Toronto
Art Director
Shirley Xu Wang
Copywriter
Marly Dichter
Chief Creative Officer
Josh Budd
Director
Emily Walker
Producer
Dave Lembke
Account executive
Katie Haller
Account Manager
Niki Javdan
Research Analyst
Shamshir Malik
Resource MGR
Evan Sue-Ping
Sr. Account Executive
Alexandrea Smith
SVP, Strategy
Lindsay Page
Vice President
Alexandra Green
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