Cheetos introduces a Super Bowl hack

Cheetos went to great lengths (and not insignificant heights) last year to make Canadian consumers aware that the sticky, icky, crusty residue left on people’s fingers when eating the snack food actually has a name: Cheetle.

The PepsiCo Canada brand is leaning further into the idea with a Super Bowl-themed “life hack” created by Rethink called “Cheeto Hack.” It gives consumers a hands-free way to open their phone while sporting “Cheetle Fingers” and watching the Chiefs upset the Eagles (yep, we’re calling it).

A national digital campaign running across TikTok, Instagram and Facebook is driving to a dedicated URL (CheetosCheetleHack.cathat contains step-by-step instructions on how to implement this new “Cheeto code” (our words).

To be clear, voice command accessibility has been around for a while. But for whatever reason, the feature went kind of viral in recent months, so Rethink and Doritos are capturing some of that buzz with a Cheetle/Super Bowl hook.

In basic terms, it enables consumers to use their phone’s voice command feature and use the suggested phrase “Eating Cheetos” to open their device without having to get their grubby mitts all over the phone screen. It probably requires a modicum of sobriety on a day known for revelry and excessive alcohol consumption, however: “Eashinggg Cheetosh” probably ain’t gonna cut it.

“Our true fans know that Cheetle is an unmistakably delicious part of the Cheetos experience. But as our fans have pointed out, sometimes that means you can’t do things like unlock your phone,” said PepsiCo Foods Canada’s senior marketing director Lisa Allie in a release. “We wanted to make sure that fans could remain locked in on all the action and be a part of all the live conversations surrounding the big game while still enjoying their favourite snack!”

It’s a smart hack, no doubt. But also unnecessary if you follow some other life-hackers’ mad idea of eating Cheeto’s with chopsticks. OMD Canada handled media.

Chris Powell