Cheetos has always been a little chaotic, in the best way. It’s the snack of classroom contraband, orange fingers, and flavor that punches harder than it should. But now, the brand is doing something even smarter: it’s owning the mess, turning it into myth, and dragging everyone into the story, cheetle-covered fingers and all.
Case in point: if you happened to be in Times Square recently, you may have noticed a rogue orange hand creeping across multiple digital billboards. Not just on a billboard, across them. Leaving smudges. Stealing attention. Hijacking space like a mischievous street artist with a brand deal. That hand? It belonged to Thing, the iconic disembodied character from Netflix’s Wednesday. And the fingerprints? They were pure, uncut cheetle.
This is more than a playful ad; it’s a masterclass in how to make a brand moment feel like cultural graffiti.
How to turn snack dust into storytelling
Here’s the thing about cheetle: it shouldn’t work. It’s dust. Residue. The stuff most food brands would quietly Photoshop out of every image. But Cheetos didn’t run from it. They built a universe around it.
For years now, the brand has leaned into its messiness with a kind of winking confidence. Cheetle is no longer a byproduct—it’s a feature. It’s mischievous. Tactile. Slightly gross. And, crucially, memorable. That’s what makes this Wednesday tie-in so effective: it builds on years of cheetle mythology and adds another deliciously weird chapter.
Instead of just launching a billboard, Cheetos launched a spectacle. One that was weird enough to make you stop scrolling, wild enough to post about, and visually sticky enough to be reshared over and over again. TikTokers ran with it. Times Square tourists turned it into content. Suddenly, cheetle wasn’t something to wipe off, it was something to chase.
The power of owning your product’s quirks
There’s a real marketing insight here, especially for creators and founders: Cheetos didn’t try to reframe cheetle as elegant or polished. They celebrated it for exactly what it is.
And when you pair that with a pop culture property like Wednesday, a show literally built around embracing the odd, the dark, the offbeat, you create resonance. Cheetos didn’t borrow Wednesday’s cool factor. They matched it.
It also helps that the campaign came with an interactive twist. A QR code scavenger hunt. Cheetle “clues.” Rewards. AR. Real-world mischief that spilled over into digital playgrounds. This wasn’t advertising. It was world-building. And it worked because the brand stayed true to itself, loud, messy, confident.
Enter the Flamin’ Hot Fiery Skulls (and more cheetle)
The stunt didn’t stop with billboards and social buzz. This campaign had a product payoff too: Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Fiery Skulls. These limited-edition snacks take everything people love about Cheetos (heat, crunch, chaos) and make it seasonal, collectible, and completely TikTok-worthy. The skull shapes tie directly into the Wednesday aesthetic. Thing even makes it onto the bag.
It’s smart. It’s spooky. It’s timed perfectly for fall.
And the real flex? These snacks aren’t an afterthought. They’re a continuation of the story. When you open that bag, you’re holding a piece of the campaign. You’re not just eating cheetle, you’re participating in it.
What your brand can steal from this (in a good way)
You don’t need Netflix or Times Square to pull this off. What you need is a willingness to embrace your brand’s weird side.
The truth is, the quirks of your product, the little things people joke about, complain about, or secretly love, can become brand-building gold. Cheetle used to be something you wiped off your jeans. Now it’s an identity.
So what’s your version of cheetle? What’s the odd detail that only your superfans notice? Could it be a design flaw? A noise your app makes? A tagline that went a little too hard? Take that thing, and if it fits your brand personality, lean in. Make it part of your story.
And don’t just post about it. Build around it. Let it show up in your packaging, your social, your merch, your tone. Let it leave fingerprints on everything you do.
Because once your brand feels like something people belong to, not just buy, you’re in a whole new category of relevance.
Let’s say it one more time: cheetle is the star
This marketing strategy isn’t just about orange powder or spooky hands. It’s about what happens when a brand stops hiding its oddness and starts owning it. Cheetos didn’t just promote a snack; they created a moment. A cultural breadcrumb trail made of cheetle and cleverness.
And that’s something anyone, startups, solo creators, marketers on a budget, can learn from. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be unforgettable.
FAQs
1.Do I really need to post messy or weird stuff online?
If it reflects your brand’s personality and your audience connects with it, absolutely. Authenticity wins every time.
2.Can small brands pull off fun campaigns too?
Yes. You don’t need a giant budget to tell a smart story. A creative idea that hits emotionally or visually can go way further than a polished, expensive campaign.
3.Is TikTok really worth it or just hype?
It’s absolutely worth it. If your audience is there, and if your brand has something genuine (or wild, or funny) to say.