Velveeta is a popular American cheese product known for its rich, creamy, over-the-top cheesiness. But for the past decade, the brand had stopped celebrating its outrageously cheesy point of difference. New generations saw Velveeta as just another cheese, losing sales to lower-priced store brand competitors.

With our new La Dolce Velveeta platform, the brand had a mission to stand apart again: make pleasure an outrageous way of life. The task was to make that mission breakthrough with Gen Z in tough economic times, while justifying our premium in a totally new way.

“Pinkies Out Polish” was a way to rebuke snoberry and reclaim decadence, just by raising your little finger.

We launched the over the top nail polish in two limited edition colors, a rich yellow called “La Dolce Velveeta” and a bold red called “Finger Food.” The over the top duo sold for $15 on Amazon and Nails Inc.com, selling out in less than 24 hours. But more importantly, the polish sparked a conversation around what high brow means today, turning Velveeta’s lowbrow perception into a new symbol of an anti-class generation.

We knew our Gen Z / younger millennial target (ages 18-34) were passionate about beauty & nail art fans. But going deeper, their lifestyle values were changing. The social and economic injustice of the Covid-19 pandemic made traditional high brow luxuries irrelevant. Self expression was king.

We co-opted the ‘Pinkies Out” gesture as a rich, cheesy symbol of that. It had cultural firepower no brand had tapped, ironically featured in Steve Carrell’s The Office and Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob Squarepants. Pinkies Out was the perfect way for Velveeta to poke fun at the bourgeoisie in a way Gen Z would notice.

To model the behavior, we partnered with over twenty influencers who embody the ‘Pinkies Out’ lifestyle, like Gia Gunn from the tradition-bending show RuPaul’s Drag Race. Pinkies Out images were designed to “raise a pinky” to high brow troupes, from outrageously-extra bubble baths to poker games.

In less than six months we secured Nails.INC, a leading and award-winning beauty brand, as a partner to bring the product to life. We created the cheese-scented VELVEETA-colored formula, developed press materials, shot impactful campaign imagery, and produced a beautifully-designed mailer for top-tier media and influencers. The VELVEETA Pinkies Out Polish was introduced to the world, generating headlines and buzz across the nation. We launched the product via a strategic earned media approach that included embargoed outreach to target media outlets and influencers followed by widespread outreach and product seeding on launch day.

The small bottle of Velveeta Pinkies Out Polish took off in a big way:

Sold out 3,500 units in 24 hours on Amazon and Nails Inc

Velveeta Nail Polish was in the top 6% of Amazon search terms on launch day

1.2 billion earned media impressions including segments in America’s biggest morning shows like The Today Show and Kelly & Ryan as well as People Magazine

2.9 million organic social media impressions and 1,500 brand mentions across visual platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, showing Pinkies Out Polish had become a low brow symbol in its own right

And Velveeta flew off shelves, with an 8.9% increase in sales velocity for its mac & cheese versus the prior month and a 4% increase in its “cheese loaf” sales velocity from the same time period.