Cheetahpult
- Brand
- Cheetos
- Year
- 2013
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Food & Drink
- Mechanic
- Arcade & Action
- Platform
- Social
- Agency
- UNIT9
Objective
Frito-Lay was launching Cheetos Mix-Ups, a share bag mixing four flavors and shapes in one pack, and wanted to push the idea beyond its TV spot to reach families where they already were online. The brand needed a mobile-friendly way to engage viewers without asking them to install an app, extending the reach of the TV campaign's concept into something people could actually play.
Solution
The game runs live on the Cheetos YouTube channel, in a tab called Cheetahpult: a real video feed shows a dad sitting in his living room with his mouth open, waiting to be fed. The player aims and fires Cheetos Mix-Ups pieces at his mouth, either by clicking with a mouse or by typing a web address into their phone to turn it into a wireless controller, swiping a finger across the phone screen to aim at the big-screen target. Chester Cheetah heckles and cheers from the sidelines as the shots land. Each round runs 60 seconds, and the goal is to land one piece of each of the four Mix-Ups flavors before time runs out.
Results
The game drew 8.5 million views, with players staying for an average session of 7 minutes 17 seconds and flinging an average of 56 Cheetos per game.
- 1
The player finds the game embedded directly in the Cheetos brand channel on YouTube, under a dedicated Cheetahpult tab rather than on a separate website, where Chester Cheetah introduces it as a celebration of the new Cheetos Mix-Ups line.
- 2
The player chooses how to play: aiming with a mouse on the desktop screen, or typing a shown address into a phone's browser to pair it over Wi-Fi as a second-screen controller, with no app download required.
- 3
The action unfolds over live video of a room in a house, where a dad sits with his mouth open as the target for incoming throws.
- 4
The player aims and launches Cheetos Mix-Ups pieces — salsa picante, chipotle cheddar, jalapeño cheddar, and cheddar — across the room toward the open mouth, using a swipe on the phone or the mouse to set direction and power.
- 5
Each round tasks the player with landing four hits, one per flavor, and racking up as many points as possible within a 60-second time limit.
- 6
A successful hit triggers a live-action comic cutscene while a miss plays out a different result, with Chester Cheetah cracking jokes on the sidelines throughout.
- 7
Clearing a round unlocks the next room of the house — dining room, kitchen, living room — and the player's accumulated score opens further Cheetlefields to keep throwing in.
