Update: A number of people are speculating that this could be an elaborate April Fool’s prank. However, the USA Today article reporting on this is from March 31st, and the number of pictures and reviews from small, independent bloggers over the past week means that if this WAS an April Fool’s prank, Frito-Lay did one hell of a job. The Director of Public Relations for Frito-Lay North America is on Twitter, and he’s been swearing all day that it’s not a prank and the product is for real. Earlier tonight, an ad for Giant Cheetos popped up on YouTube. Check it out:
Original Post: They have arrived. But I will admit, I didn’t even know they were coming. Big thanks to @mvpitts for alerting me to the existence of this bizarre product after sharing a USA Today article covering weird new food creations such as Giant Cheetos, Pancake Puppies and Oreo Fun Stix.
For its article, USA Today spoke to Frito-Lay about the inspiration behind the idea:
“People are looking for anything to break the negativity,” says Ann Mukherjee, marketing guru at Frito-Lay, which, at one point even considered — but junked the idea of — Cheetos the size of tennis balls.
Frito-Lay hired cultural anthropologists who watched stressed workers fiddle with stuff on their desks — including stress balls. So why not Giant Cheetos, instead? “It’s a ball you can eat,” Mukherjee says.
BookofJoe also posted about them yesterday, and Taquitos provides a review:
Each piece in this bag of Cheetos was quite large, as you would expect from the Giant Cheetos name, with a tube-like shape, kind of like a marshmallow, though somewhat irregular, with rounded-off ends. Each tube was about an inch and a half in diameter about an inch and a half long.
Gigi-reviews got their hands on some last week and has described them as well:
It is shaped like a neon orange marshmallow. And unlike marshmallow it is not smooshy and sweet. It is super cheese flavored. It’s as if they took the amount of cheese flavor in a regular cheetos and upped it to 11. Actually it reminded me of an old school Planters Cheese Ball more then a Cheeto. By that I mean it’s saltier then a normal Cheeto and the cheese flavor is a little more fake, but it’s so good in that ‘it’s bad but it’s good’ way that you don’t care.
So exactly how big are these Giant Cheetos? Well, Gigi-Review provides a photo showing some scale:
That’s a big ass ball of Cheeto. Isn’t part of the fun of Cheetos the skinnyness and crunchyness? I fear that a giant puffy cheese ball will be too similar to the puffy and light – and far inferior, cheese puffs you can get from any supermarket store brand. I want to try one of these badly, but my health, and my wallet, can’t justify actually spending money on crap like this. Oh, but Flamin Hot Cheetos FTW. That is all.









26 responses so far ↓
1 Mike // Apr 1, 2009 at 11:28 am
I spotted these a few days ago at a local CVS. They had them in cheese AND flaming hot!
2 DCBlogs // Apr 1, 2009 at 12:46 pm
[...] Giant Cheetos [...]
3 IFT - April 1, 2009 // Apr 1, 2009 at 5:26 pm
[...] Cheetos the size of golf ballsThis is no April Fools’ Day trick…Frito-Lay’s Cheetos brand is launching Giant Cheetos snacks, which are golf-ball sized cheesy snacks that bring a sense of fun to snacking. [...]
4 SJKang // Apr 1, 2009 at 8:15 pm
My friend’s brother who works in R&D for Frito Lay worked on these. Haven’t tried them myself, but I’ve seen them.
5 Dani // Apr 2, 2009 at 1:01 am
Wow, when you got to “Pancake Puppies” I so thought this was an April Fool’s joke. But then I saw that the USA Today article was from the 30th…. wow.
6 Giant Cheetos | FOODBEAST - ONLINE FOOD PUBLICATION :: BEEN HUNGRY SINCE '88 // Apr 2, 2009 at 4:24 am
[...] just hours before April 1st, when I first stumbled upon this new product over on our friend’s website, I figured it was a bit of an April Fool’s joke. Apparently, a commercial has emerged [...]
7 Comments by mike13241 — BackType // Apr 2, 2009 at 9:21 am
[...] 21 hours ago Mike on Giant Cheetos [...]
8 Giant Cheetos vs. Regular Cheetos | Serious Eats // Apr 3, 2009 at 10:05 am
[...] the package on April 1 made it seem like a joke, but the bags were actually filled with edible substances. So how giant is Giant Cheetos? Find out [...]
9 Serious Eats: Mobile: Giant Cheetos vs. Regular Cheetos // Apr 3, 2009 at 10:59 am
[...] the package on April 1 made it seem like a joke, but the bags were actually filled with edible substances. So how giant is Giant Cheetos? Find out [...]
10 Weekend Odds & Ends « Capital Spice // Apr 4, 2009 at 10:21 am
[...] The make out sessions between Top Chef contestants Leah Cohen and Hosea Rosenburg, according to Page Six.  Is your kitchen ready for spring? Check out braised lamb shanks with spring vegetables from The Bitten Word.  Servers from several area restaurants have been tied to a credit card scam.  High end restaurants around the world are taking on the no-frills approach perfected by the gastropub.  Some chefs are sharing their recipes on Twitter.   Everything you ever wanted to know about Peruvian cuisine.   Like alien ants in a sci fi film, Giant Cheetos have arrived.  [...]
11 lw // Apr 7, 2009 at 2:42 am
My dad got me some of these for a sneak peek, and they aren’t that much cheesier. They’re just larger, so there’s more cheese covering the puff. They’re a fun, new experience, but I’ll stick to the Puffs. Trying to fit an entire Giant into my mouth is difficult, and biting into one makes the cheese coating stick to your teeth. (Gross!)
12 pob threbbingill // Apr 9, 2009 at 1:02 am
Fubaduba ladies always use they nail to select one cheetoe…I think they tired of their products moving slowly because of this. It is another elaborate prank by big business to supress lapluffa jackson and friends.
13 Action Fashions Race To The Bottom at Boardistan // Apr 9, 2009 at 4:03 pm
[...] while strolling the isles of our local Walmart in search of storage bins and Giant Cheetos we noticed some attractive women’s monokinis. They were from some brand called Op and selling [...]
14 NEWS: All The Top Action Sports Weekend News by FUELTVNews at FUEL.TV – Action Sports Videos, Webcasts, Photos, News, Blogs, & More // Apr 13, 2009 at 5:49 pm
[...] The BottomYesterday, while strolling the isles of our local Walmart in search of storage bins and Giant Cheetos we noticed some attractive women’s monokinis. They were from some brand called Op and selling for [...]
15 tony // Apr 19, 2009 at 7:01 pm
i live in glendale ca.have not seen them yet,can you tell me where too get those scrumpious thing’s….. thank’s
16 Jul -- Craziness: Giant Cheetos // Apr 20, 2009 at 4:02 pm
[...] [...]
17 Gaia Online :: Redirection Warning // Apr 23, 2009 at 5:52 am
[...] or any other personal information on the following page, even if it looks like Gaia! Continue to: http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/04/01/giant-cheetos/ Following this link will not log you out of your Gaia account! If you don’t wish to see this [...]
18 denver forums - craigslist // Apr 24, 2009 at 10:22 am
[...] reply to this post email it rate flag guess i should have read that link first < BlueTinkerbell > 04/24 06:54:40 http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/04/01/giant-cheetos/http://denver.craigslist.org/forums/?ID=122743061 [...]
19 boise forums - craigslist // Apr 24, 2009 at 10:26 am
[...] reply to this post email it rate flag guess i should have read that link first < BlueTinkerbell > 04/24 06:54:40 http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/04/01/giant-cheetos/http://boise.craigslist.org/forums/?ID=122743061 [...]
20 Eating the World's Largest Cheeto | So Good // Apr 24, 2009 at 10:32 am
[...] a promotion for Cheeto’s newest product, Giant Cheetos, Gizmodo was sent “the world’s largest Cheeto.” So what did they do with it? What [...]
21 Apr 25: I Ate the World's Largest Cheeto Over the World's Most Expensive Keyboard - Page 4 - Fur Affinity Forums // Apr 27, 2009 at 7:10 pm
[...] Apr 25: I Ate the World’s Largest Cheeto Over the World’s Most Expensive Keyboard http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/04/01/giant-cheetos/ I’m not sure if its the same giant cheeto, but giant cheetos do exist. __________________ [...]
22 Acacia // May 3, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Can someone PLEASE tell me where to find these in the NYC or Westchester area?
23 I can't believe this hasn't been posted yet (please say it hasn't been posted yet...) - Topic Powered by Eve For Enterprise // Jun 1, 2009 at 12:32 pm
[...] 01 Jun 2009 07:58:51 GMT-0700′, ‘June 01, 2009 10:58′)+”); June 01, 2009 10:58 http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/04/01/giant-cheetos/Some things only require a [...]
24 Oceanic Replacement - The Black Rock in a Nutshell // Aug 20, 2009 at 6:15 pm
[...] [...]
25 Marian // Dec 7, 2010 at 11:28 pm
BRING BACK GIANT CHEETOS.
26 rosa martinez // Jun 22, 2011 at 11:15 pm
bring back giant cheetos!!!!
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