Battle Of The Cheetos
- Brand
- Cheetos
- Year
- 2010
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Food & Drink
- Mechanic
- Simulation & Strategy
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- North Kingdom
Objective
Frito-Lay wanted to boost engagement and awareness for its two flagship Cheetos varieties, Crunchy and Puffs, by turning the everyday debate over which one is better into an actual contest between rival camps of fans. The campaign was built to keep people coming back to the site and to spread by word of mouth, as players recruited friends to fight on their side.
Solution
You start by picking a side, Crunchy or Puffs, then choose a real, popular website — Digg, Gawker, Gizmodo — to serve as the battlefield; the page loads in and crumples into paper terrain right before your eyes. From there you name your army and design its flag, then scan a leaderboard of other players and challenge one to a fight. Battles play out turn by turn, moving infantry and artillery across the folded landscape, and you can hook up Facebook to call in friends as reinforcements or taunt your opponent live over the mic. Winning battles earns Cheetle, the in-game currency, which you spend patching up your troops or unlocking upgrades like robots and tanks for the next fight.
- 1
The player opens the browser-based Flash game and, once it loads, chooses to watch an intro cinematic or skip straight in.
- 2
The player picks a battlefield from a set of real, popular websites (Digg, Gawker, Gizmodo, BoingBoing, Mashable); the chosen page loads inside the game and visibly crumples into paper, becoming the battle's terrain.
- 3
The player pledges to one of two rival armies, Puffs or Crunchy, then customizes it by naming the army and building a flag from a choice of colors and emblems.
- 4
The player picks an opponent from a ranked list of other players, regardless of rank or whether they're online (offline opponents are run by the computer), or connects Facebook to challenge a specific friend, with the match tracked through Facebook.
- 5
Battle plays out with armies facing off across the crumpled-page terrain: the player commands squads by clicking units, aims infantry with a fast-moving reticle to snipe enemy soldiers, lobs artillery by setting angle and power on two gauges to drop shells on target, and repositions troops between shots to dodge return fire and close in on enemy guns.
- 6
During combat the player can turn on a microphone to taunt the opponent by voice.
- 7
Winning the match captures that website for the player's faction and crowns the player its general.
- 8
After the match, the player sees a summary of the fight and is awarded the in-game currency Cheetle.
- 9
The player spends Cheetle to repair damaged squads or upgrade the army with robots and tanks, then moves on to contest the next site.
