Doritos is very new in its journey in India and was not associated with bold flavours.

To start building on our flavours, we went after the largest and fastest expanding flavour bucket in India- Spice.

Indians take their spice very seriously, putting the country on top of spice consumption globally. Not only this, 41% Indians are seeking even hotter flavors. We realised the opportunity was fertile for Doritos to bring the iconic Flamin’ Hot to India- a globally winning flavour which suits the spice taste palate of Indians perfectly.

While we had everything Indians love- a hot celebrity and an even hotter chip- but so did every other category player. Celebrities endorsing spicy snacks on taste codes are neither new nor special in the country. To not drown in the sea of sameness, we had to use our brand ambassador in an unprecedented way to launch Sizzlin' Hot.

To index on Sizzlin' Hot's disruptive spice levels, we told our brand ambassador, Bollywood heartthrob, Kartik Aryan to NOT eat Sizzlin’ Hot because it’d be dangerous for him. Even Bollywood was in on it with the nation’s biggest action film director Rohit Shetty requesting Kartik to not eat the chip.

Kartik played along in mock offence and got Indians rallying behind him, asking Doritos to let Kartik eat the chip- after all how hot could it really be?

While finally Kartik did get to have his chip and eat it too, the fiery drama and explosive film prompted millions of Indians to do the same as they too wanted to prove their spice tolerance; giving Doritos Sizzlin’ Hot a Sizzlin Hot launch.

In India, spicy snacks are so ubiquitous, that every local shop has tons of hot snacks available at different spice levels.

We too had everything Indians love- a hot Bollywood heartthrob as our brand ambassador and an even hotter chip. But with progressively hot snacks endorsed by celebrities available at every street corner of the country, how do you convince Indians to try Sizzlin’ Hot?

To not drown in the sea of sameness, we had to use our brand ambassador uniquely.

So our strategy was simple- make Indians believe that Sizzlin’ Hot was 'not just another hot chip' in the Indian market, by using our brand ambassador in a 'not just another celebrity ad' way.

Our insight stemmed from India's love story with spice itself- Indians take great pride in their spice tolerance. The moment you tell them something is too hot for them to handle, they take it personally.

Our campaign began with a teaser launch where Kartik chances upon a Doritos Sizzlin' Hot carton labeled "Not for Kartik Aaryan" at Doritos film shoot set. Intrigued, he decides to investigate but a production crew member takes it away from him.

After this teaser blew up on social media, we launched another teaser from Kartik Aaryan's Instagram itself- where in mock offence he called out how he wasn't being allowed to eat Sizzlin' Hot as it was being considered too spicy for him. Even Bollywood's biggest action director Rohit Shetty chimed in asking him to not eat the chip. This led to the entire nation asking Doritos to let Kartik eat the chip- it couldn't be that spicy after all!

This led to the epic finale of our launch, our film itself- Kartik fighting to be allowed to eat Sizzlin' Hot; Rohit finally relenting and letting Kartik taste Sizzlin' Hot.

By telling Kartik Aaryan to not eat Doritos Sizzlin' Hot, we got the nation eating Doritos Sizzlin' Hot, giving the snack a fiery launch that set all records on fire- and the best ever for Doritos in India.

Overnight our campaign garnered 34.8Mn PR impressions, 14.7Mn in earned PR

and a whopping 18.9Mn in earned reach. This resulted in Doritos Sizzlin’ Hot gaining 7.2% market share in just 6 months of launch. It even contributed 22% mix to core in just 3 months vs industry standard of 10%. Not only this, with 58% total awareness and +140% volume vs plan, Sizzlin’ Hot surpassed all targets.