Orange. Round. Crunchy. Cheezy. Really, very orange. Planters Cheez Balls were an icon of 90’s snack food in the U.S. Since being discontinued in 2006, passionate fans have pleaded for their return on social media. There was even a petition.

Kraft Heinz decided to bring the orange, nostalgic snack back in 2018. The brief was to give fans a chance to reunite with their most-missed cheezy snack in a really fun way and our objective was driving sales by building excitement for Cheez Ball’s return.

We knew that for Cheez Ball fans, the journey was as important as the treasure. Social chatter about Cheez Balls told us that diehard fans were willing to do whatever it takes to get their hands on a can of the addictive orange orbs.

Our idea was an internet treasure hunt, but with an eCommerce twist.

Our strategy was to create a special experience targeting fans of Cheez Balls from the 1990’s where getting their hands on the product would be as fun and rewarding as the product itself.

We knew from social listening and passionate nostalgic chatter that fans yearned for their beloved orange orbs and would be willing to find cans to satisfy their 12-year-old craving. So, we hid cans around the internet. But, we went beyond the typical online scavenger hunt and elevated it with a twist: we made the hunt buzzworthy by leveraging our ecommerce expertise to get the brand into unexpected auction and buy/sell platforms were people hunt for long-lost treasured items. That unexpected twist garnered big attention and Cheez Balls quickly sold out.

We announced the treasure hunt on Twitter from Planters’ handle using the voice of Mr. Peanut, the brand’s personality, letting fans know canisters were out there.

Mr. Peanut continued to release more hints on Twitter and fans who figured out this cheezy mystery made their way to eCommerce sites where people usually go to find long lost treasures, like couches, old guitars, vintage clothes, and even used goods - eBay, Craigslist and LetGo - where we had hidden the cans. Not your typical eCommerce platforms for packaged foods.

The can on eBay topped $2,000. The lucky ones that found the cheezy goodness hidden on other auction and ecommerce sites were able to purchase their beloved Cheez Balls and enjoy the nostalgic snack once more, sending Mr. Peanut tweets and pictures of cans once they received them.

Then, Mr. Peanut announced Cheez Balls would be made available to everyone for purchase at retail and online.

The campaign created so much excitement among fans that Cheez Balls sold out quickly and the brand had to make more! We generated 1.4 Billion earned impressions, 538 press pickups and over 70,000 engagements on Twitter. Cheez Balls fans were delighted their pleas were heard and they got to have their most favorite, nostalgic and really very orange snack once again.