Mac n' Cheetos

On the heels of the massive success of Doritos Locos Tacos, Frito-Lay was on the hunt for another completely unexpected flavor-melding mashup to score them another huge cultural hit. So they partnered with us, and we got to work creating a pipeline of new product ideas to keep Frito-Lay’s away-from-home channels hopping.

We started with research. Lots and lots of exhaustive, orange-fingered category, culinary, and customer research. We started with a strategic hunt for that magic moment of brand synergy. We examined Frito-Lay’s entire portfolio of brands to identify fruitful intersections and unexpected overlaps, and we ended up with a massive strategic framework that turbo-charged an all-out innovation sprint.

Hundreds of brand-blending ideas were born, but a clear winner rose to the top: Mac n’ Cheetos. A jubilantly oversized, Cheetos-shaped, bright orange Cheetle-dusted mac-and-cheese concoction served up hot in a paper box like French fries.

Of course the world absolutely loved Mac n’ Cheetos. What’s not to love? Mac. And. Cheetos. They launched in Burger King in 2016 and became a very bold, cultishly delicious LTO success story.