Challenge

Cheetos wanted to expand its snacking footprint and remind fans that the brand isn’t just food — it’s culture. But how do you drive relevance for a 70-year-old snack when every food collab and limited-edition gimmick has already been done?

Insight

Cheetos’ greatest equity isn’t the chip — it’s the dust. That neon orange residue is iconic, meme-worthy, and instantly recognizable. But people usually see it as messy or silly. So what if we stopped treating Cheetle as a problem — and made it a feature?

Idea

We launched Cheetos Duster — the first-ever kitchen gadget that turns Cheetos into a fine orange seasoning powder. A real product, sold on Amazon, designed like a premium culinary tool but with the same mischievous spirit as Chester Cheetah. We shot lifestyle content that spoofed food-tech tropes, partnered with recipe creators, and seeded TikTok with absurdly elegant cooking demos (“Flamin’ Hot Crème Brûlée,” anyone?).

The idea flipped a cultural symbol of mess into a badge of creativity — and gave fans a new way to play with the brand.

Impact

The Duster sold out in 90 minutes on Black Friday Amazon. It racked up 1 billion earned media impressions across press and social, and drove a measurable lift in brand relevance among Gen Z audiences, according to internal brand tracking.

What started as a holiday drop became one of Cheetos’ most talked-about brand activations ever — proof that the internet still loves to play with its food.