The archive · PR & Stunts · Marketing decision · 2022
Cheetos plants a 17-foot Cheetle-covered fingertips statue in Cheadle, Alberta
Cheetos dropped a giant statue of Cheetle-dusted fingertips in a hamlet called Cheadle — thousands visited and coverage reached 28 countries.
Cheetos (PepsiCo Foods Canada)
What it had to solve
Alberta has a penchant for oversized food landmarks, and Cheetos discovered a small Albertan hamlet called Cheadle. Citizen Relations saw the near-homophone as an opening to put the brand's iconic orange dust somewhere people would travel to.
How it works
Alberta has a taste for oversized food landmarks, so when Cheetos found a small Albertan hamlet called Cheadle — a name that sounds like Cheetle, the brand's iconic orange dust — Citizen Relations saw an opportunity that looked like coincidence and behaved like an invitation.
Without any advance notice, the brand installed a 17-foot-tall statue of fingertips covered in Cheetle in the hamlet. There was no launch event and no media buy: the object itself was the campaign, sitting in a real place whose name made the joke obvious to anyone who found it.
News spread organically on social media, and before long thousands of fans travelled from far and wide for a selfie with the snack. Coverage went global within days — not just regional but across 28 countries — and D&AD carries Cheetle in Cheadle in its awards archive under PR.
Why it lands
- The hamlet's name makes the idea legible before a word of copy is read — the joke is geographic rather than linguistic.
- No formal announcement meant discovery happened through social media, so sharing, not advertising, carried the campaign.
- Alberta's existing appetite for giant food landmarks gave the stunt a local genre to join, making it feel native rather than imposed.
- A physical statue gives fans a destination and a photo, turning coverage into visits and visits into more coverage.
What it did
Before long, thousands of fans visited from far and wide for a selfie with the snack, and coverage went global in a matter of days — not just regional, but across 28 countries. D&AD carries the work in its awards archive under PR.
What you can take
A pun can become a place: when a town already carries your brand's near-name, build the brand object there and let geography, tourism and social media distribute the story instead of paid media.
Since then
The campaign entered the D&AD awards archive under PR as a case of turning a pun into a place people wanted to visit. What lasted was the proof that geography can work like media: the news cycle reported a landmark fans could drive to, not a press release about a product.
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