Giant Cheetos!

Team Cheetos has rocked the snacking world again with their new Giant Cheetos snacks. I found out about these from one of their TV commercials. Before the 25 second spot had finished playing I had my jacket on and was out the door on my way to the grocery store. Really! I had to see these things for myself.

The first store I went to didn't have them, ugh. I even looked in all the special Star Trek standee displays. (By the way check out my review of the Star Trek movie) No Giant Cheetos to be found there either. I started to panic. Could it be a myth? Was I deceived by some fake ad? Or worse, could it be that my area wasn't going to receive them? I took a few deep breaths and headed to the train station on the corner. I was on a mission now.

Luckily my quest was short. I struck giant cheesy gold at the second store I visited. (it was 11 at night and the check out girl probably thought I was crazy coming in just for a bag of snack puffs.) With my treasure in hand I rushed home to sample this new species that the Cheetos scientists had spawned in their dark cheese laboratory.

Arriving at home I snapped a few pics and then tore that bag open. Holy Saints of Snaking! These things are pretty big.

Clearly these are intended more for adults because kids probably would have to unhinge a mandible in order to chomp these. Overall I enjoyed them though. They have the same Cheetos taste to them, but there is a spicy Flamin' variety out there for the chili lovers. They are fun to eat, like crispy jaw breakers. The only negative is something that is common for all Cheetos; they are not friendly to your gums. Expect your gum tissues to be shredded like eating a bowl of Cap'n Crunch cereal. But, the ensuing discomfort and blood loss is worth it for a chance to eat Cheetos the size of golf balls.

These giant puffs are part of Cheetos new plan to position the brand as being more for adults. According to their March 2009 press release the company conducted market research and found that many adults want to add more fun into their lives. If the economy is getting ya down, don't worry–get snackin'.

One way they shifted to adult focus was by updating the mascot. For the TV commercials they ditched the zany acting cartoon Chester Cheetah for a more mellow and realistically CGI rendered version of the cat. His voice now sounds like James Lipton from Inside the Actor's Studio. He even looks a little like James with that goatee. He also reminds me of a beatnik with his poetic voice and classic dark shades.

There was a string of commercials at the end of 2008 called "join the orange underground" that feature the now apparently medicated Chester appearing to adults as they take a bite of Cheetos. Then Chester seduces the snacker to let loose by taking mischievous reprisal on any annoying assholes they encounter. They do this usually by smearing the orange cheese dust from their fingers onto the other persons white clothes or belongings. It's all in good fun. My favorite commercial from this series was the one where a cute guy puts cheese dust all over the desk of the office neat freak. When the neat freak returned to find cheesle all over his white iPod and Cheetos stuck in his neatly trimmed Bonzai tree he just freezes and say's, "There's been an incident." Classic.