We broke through the holiday clutter by helping the brand become more than just a cheesy snack. Fueled by Chester’s cool style, we introduced the world to the first-ever Cheetos Store, offering a truly unprecedented line of coveted gifts to help position Cheetos as Chester the Cheetah believes it to be, a luxury lifestyle brand.

Luxurious Flamin’ Hot pants. The daring Cheetos Speedo. Plush Chester Cheetah high-top slippers. Sterling silver paw-shaped cuff links. The unforgettable fragrance of Cheeteau. Topped off by the $20,000 orange sapphire and diamond-encrusted Eye of the Cheetah jewels.

Seriously. You could buy this stuff. And, people did, virtually cleaning out the store within one week.

By giving the Cheetos Store straight-up credibility — from high fashion video shoots, to elegant catalog and glamorous retail website — we created a holiday gift-giving sensation that most brands only dream about.

The Cheetos Store launched November 18 amidst the hysteria of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and extended through mid-December to keep pace with holiday shopping.

To generate extreme awareness, we dangled our crown jewel, the USD$20,000 orange sapphire and diamond-encrusted Eye of the Cheetah jewelry. Our ultra-premium holiday catalogue mimicked traditional luxury retailers, furthering the narrative: We meant business.

We launched the campaign with an all-out media blitz and video juxtaposing our brand with the avant-garde tone of the fashion industry, featuring our seriously for-sale items showcased on the runway. To emphasize these items were indeed available for purchase, we paired the video with the first-ever shoppable Facebook ad unit used by a CPG company, making it easy to tap-to-buy. We also showered Cheetos celebrity fans with personalized holiday gift picks and worked with The Onion on content to bring the creative process behind the collection to life.

Almost every item in the Cheetos Store sold out — for real and sometimes for serious money — helping to elevate Cheetos’ status as a luxury lifestyle brand. Media outlets pounced on the story, proving our strategy correct. And, Cheetos products enjoyed a 10.5% sales increase over the same period the previous year, which demonstrates that a “traditionally” slow sales period can be turned around with a seasonally-relevant approach.

The Cheetos Store was covered by more than 2,500 news outlets, both in the US and abroad, including USA TODAY, TODAY Show, Elle, Esquire, Thrillist, Fast Company, Easter, MSN, Fox News, Hello Giggles, BuzzFeed, and more.*

In just six weeks, the Cheetos Store gained over 1.3 billion impressions and sold over 93% of its inventory — most of which sold out within the first week, including the $20,000 Eye of the Cheetah jewelry set. On social, the campaign generated 276 million click-throughs, almost as outrageous as the items in the collection.

To further the story, influential celebrities like Jenna Dewan Tatum (wife of Channing Tatum) engaged with some of the gifts. She had a little fun sporting her Cheetos Speedos on top of her leggings and sharing with millions of her fans via SnapChat.

Our narrative broke through the clutter and monotony of the holiday season and made our target look at Cheetos in a whole new light: luxurious AND cheesy.