The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2024–2025
Chili's turns a viral TikTok appetizer into its sales engine — Triple Dipper sales up 70%
Cheese-pull TikTok videos made a 20-year-old appetizer Chili's growth engine: Triple Dipper sales jumped 70%, comps hit 14.8%, 200M+ views followed.
Chili's
What it had to solve
Chili's was two years into a turnaround — a slimmer menu and a value position aimed at fast food — when a 20-year-old appetizer platter, the Triple Dipper, went viral on TikTok in May 2024 through customers' cheese-pull videos. The chain had to decide whether to let the moment fade or make the viral item the centerpiece of its growth.
How it works
Chili's was mid-turnaround in 2024 — fewer menu items, sharper value, ads aimed at fast-food prices — when customers on TikTok handed it an unexpected gift. Videos of the cheese pulls from its 20-year-old Triple Dipper appetizer exploded in May 2024, and the chain suddenly had more demand than marketing had ever bought.
Rather than treating the videos as a one-off, Chili's fanned the flames: it developed permanent and secret-menu flavors from the viral posts (Nashville Hot Mozz graduated to the permanent menu), sold cheese-pull-themed merch that sold out, and worked creators into its own TikTok content. By 2025 it had formalized the play into a creator-led campaign where nine TikTokers told real Chili's stories with the platter as the centerpiece.
The numbers show the scale: same-store sales rose 14.8% in fiscal Q4 2024 and 14.1% with about 6% traffic growth in fiscal Q1 2025; Triple Dipper sales climbed 70% year over year to roughly 11% of the chain's business, behind more than 200 million TikTok views.
The follow-up creator campaign was credited with 23 million additional Triple Dippers sold year over year, and the episode became a case study in smart marketing beating menu innovation — while casual-dining rivals reported declining sales, Chili's grew on the strength of one appetizer's meme.
Why it lands
- Cheese-pull videos were proof, not promotion — customers did the selling, so Chili's only had to keep the moment lit.
- A customizable platter is inherently social and visual, giving creators an endless set of combinations to film.
- Reacting at menu speed — new flavors, merch, costumes — turned a TikTok week into months of sustained news.
- Creator-led storytelling that put story before product matched TikTok's algorithm and outperformed scripted ads.
What it did
The viral item became the brand's growth engine: Chili's same-store sales rose 14.8% in the quarter the trend peaked and 14.1% with roughly 6% traffic growth the following quarter; Triple Dipper sales climbed 70% year over year to about 11% of the chain's business, with more than 200 million TikTok views. The follow-up creator campaign kept the item trending and was credited with 23 million additional Triple Dippers sold year over year.
What you can take
When the internet hands you a product moment, don't just thank it — build the brand around it: new flavors, merch and creator stories turned a viral week into a year of sales.
Since then
The Triple Dipper wave carried Chili's through fiscal 2025: sales rose 70% to about 11% of the business, and the creator-led follow-up won a Silver Honor at the 18th Shorty Awards, credited with 23 million additional units. Chili's kept extending the idea — Nashville Hot Mozz became permanent, holiday merch sold out, and a two-person cheese-pull Halloween costume dropped as a limited run. With rivals Applebee's and Outback posting sales declines, the case became a reference for treating social proof as a growth strategy.
Sources
- TikTok and fast-food rivalry fuel Chili's sales as parent Brinker says turnaround is taking hold
- Breakout products of the year on restaurant chain menus
- How Chili's fried mozzarella achieved viral fame with its glorious cheese-pulls
- Let the Creators Lead: Chili's Triple Dipper Campaign Powered by Real-Life Social Stories
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