2023 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Cheetos lovers are some of the most passionate fans in the game, and they know getting your fingertips a little—okay, a lot—messy is part of the snack. The best part, maybe. But not many Canadians knew that there is an official term for the iconic orange dust on their fingertips: Cheetle. Looking to address stagnant brand sales and salience and unleash some playful mischief, Cheetos tasked us with calling nationwide attention—call it an educational opportunity—to change that.

It’s hard to believe (we know), but Cheetle isn’t really thought about by most snackers—and only 1.4% knew its name. While Cheetle might seem polarizing or something to be avoided, it’s what makes Cheetos, well, distinctly Cheetos. With the brand’s top of mind awareness stagnating, we needed to turn what people used to wash off into a point of pride. Cheetos believes that the messy stuff is the best stuff. We wanted our cult of snackers—both young and young at heart who embody the brand’s playful mischief—to not only embrace Cheetle but to crave it, to claim it as a badge of honour. To crack our fans’ messaging-saturated veneer, we needed to invite them—versus tell them—to join the Cheetle love. And what do we do with the things we love the most? We cherish them. We revere them. We build monuments to them.

Alberta has a particular penchant for oversized food landmarks—from giant mushrooms in Vilna to the world’s largest sausage in Mundare. When we discovered a small Albertan hamlet (home to 83) called Cheadle, it became obvious what we had to do: build a giant statue of a hand holding a Cheetos Puffs snack with its Cheetle-covered fingertips proudly on display, and place it in its namesake home of Cheadle, Alberta. We called a Wheatland County councillor, who connected us to the Cheadle Community Club to find property where the statue could be built.

One fall day it appeared without notice, fanfare, or, frankly, any context, in a field along the main strip in town. We hoped that passersby who stumbled upon it would connect the dots and share their discovery with the digital world. That didn’t take long. A few accidental drivebys resulted in some social posts, and that quickly grew into a bit of a pilgrimage, with thousands of people a day (yes, a day) overwhelming this small hamlet with traffic to the statue. Some even travelled from out of province (one fan flew over 2,400km) for a chance to take a selfie with the “Cheetle in Cheadle”. Several days later, when the Cheetos brand claimed the monumental celebration of Cheetle with a press release, media and Cheetos lovers’ excitement had already begun to reach a fever pitch. Knowing it was only going to be in market for four weeks, the Cheetle Hand Statue was quickly met by top-tier media (including CBC, CTV and Global News, among others) and Canadians who came in droves, most with bags of their favourite Cheetos snack in tow. What began as a regional story went national, then North American… and before long became a global phenomenon. In October 2022, Cheetle was EVERYWHERE.

Images of the statue and Cheetos fans were all over TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram. Memes from multiple brands capitalized on our spotlight. It was added to Cheadle’s Wikipedia page, and designated a “historical landmark” on Google Maps.

Credits

CCO: Josh Budd
Art Director: Shirley Xu Wang
Copywriter: Marly Dichter
Production: Frankie
Executive Producer: Dave Lembke
Fabricator: F&D Scene Changes
VP: Alexandra Green
Director: Emily Walker
Account Managers: Niki Javdan
Senior Account Executives: Alexandrea Smith
Account Executives: Katie Haller
SVP, Strategy: Lindsay Page
Research Analyst: Shamshir Malik