Understanding the reactions caused by tasting something spicy, allowed us to know the antidotes people use to remove the feeling of pungency from spicy. Thus, we discovered the properties of milk to relieve pungency and turned it into a memorable and fun brand experience that aware of this great combo to continue enjoying the extra spicy snacks of Flamin’ Hot.

Mexicans love spicy food and pride themselves on their high resistance to spicy flavors, their palate was trained since childhood through sweets, snacks, and gastronomy in general, and the more spiciness the better because they consider spicy a challenge to conquer. No matter how much it makes us cry or curse, we can't stop eating them and the spicier the better.

The truth is that there are spices that cannot be underestimated because no matter how hard they try and want to go out with their heads held high, the physical reactions they cause such as sweating, crying, flushing, coughing, etc. are undeniable.

Mexicans are unable to admit that something is spicy because calls into question their resistance, their courage, strength, and even their national identity. It’s also an entertaining social behavior, when someone eats something very spicy, the rest around them are waiting to observe, laugh, and check that resistance to spiciness and the values associated with it.

To have a better understanding of spiciness, we designed a framework that only the Flamin’ Hot platform could trigger in consumers, rethinking the spicy as a roller coaster for the Mexican consumer. We called it the "Spiciness Roller Coaster" and it’s composed of three moments: intrigue, suffering, and enjoyment.

Our latest campaigns focused on the tensest moment: suffering, to demonstrate to the audience that our new flavors have the highest level of spiciness in the entire snack category and now, those physical effects can be alleviated by drinking some milk.

Flamin' Hot is PepsiCo's extra spicy snacks platform. Through three equity campaigns, we consolidated our positioning in an increasingly competitive market. First, we showcased that the level of pungency in Mexico is measured in swear words. Then we linked it to "the spicy deniers" even when they couldn't physically hide it. Finally, we proved both theories by traveling to "La Chingada" town to challenge the locals to taste our spicy snacks.

These campaigns showed excellent results in affinity and engagement, so we should continue building the creative platform "Don't underestimate the extra spicy power of Flamin Hot". For this campaign, the goal was to leverage the cultural relevance of spicy, strengthening our positioning for future innovations, even outside snacks. We had to increase the affinity with Mexicans of different ages, reinforcing the Brand cue of swearing after tasting our snacks.

Inspired by scientific studies that claim that milk has properties that soothe the burning sensation of spice, we created a campaign with a touch of humor. We parody the typical innocent communication of the milk category, contrasting it with a character facing the extra-spicy power of Flamin' Hot, cursing and desperately drinking a glass of milk.

A few days before the launch, a tweet from our consumers blew up the campaign: "How about creating a special milk to calm the burned palate?". The rest went crazy, spreading the idea quickly. So, we leverage this great opportunity to launch the first milk limited edition in history to calm the powerful spicy effect of Flamin' Hot snacks.

Transforming Flamin’ Hot Milk campaign into an effective alliance with Alpura (the leading dairy brand in Mexico) to help Mexicans to be prepared for our spicy effect and innovate beyond the snacks category.

After observing people consuming all kinds of spicy foods, we discovered that they cannot stop eating them because they are part of the culture, so they look for antidotes to neutralize the burning, such as salt, fruits, avocados, beer, or sweets. However, it's scientifically proven that dairy products are the most effective at soothing the palate. This is because chili peppers contain capsaicin that activates pain receptors, so the brain thinks that the tongue is on fire then sweat, tears, redness, etc. appear. When drinking dairy, casein envelops the capsaicin molecules, giving a sensation of relief from pain and burning in the mouth.

Thus, the strategy consisted of building the association between the problem and the solution that would increase spicy snacks and milk consumption by bringing to communication the remedy most used by Mexicans to calm the spicy sensations. And keep building brand positioning as the spiciest snacks.

The campaign to learn how to calm the spicy effect turned into a revolutionary alliance. The hero video was launched in mass and digital media, it was adapted to snackable content for Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok with awareness and engagement objectives. The X platform detonated the digital conversation and the alliance with Alpura, a leading dairy brand in Mexico.

We launched Flamin Hot milk available in well-known supermarkets in Mexico, as well as limited edition "Open in case of spiciness" kits containing Flamin' Hot products and milk on Rappi, and Joy App. Some were sent to influencers to generate awareness, and engagement, and build the association of milk with the relief of the extra spicy power of Flamin' Hot.

This campaign became a powerful alliance (Flamin’ Hot + Alpura) and with only 4 weeks on the air, we have obtained:

+71 Million Reach (+26% vs plan) 

+146.3 Million Impressions (+54% vs plan) 

+13.2 Million views (+68% vs plan) 

80% Positive Sentiment

90% VTR (+60% vs Benchmark PepsiCo Mexico Foods) 

+1.1 Million Interactions (+32% vs previous campaign) 

3.08% Engagement Rate (+0.63pp vs benchmark) 

1,678 TV GPR's (+36% vs a previous campaign) 

Best Ad Facebook 

+1,300 kits Special Edition delivered

+2,000 Flamin’ Hot Milks delivered in just 1hr

70k clicks on e-commerce sites