Frito Lay’s line of Flamin’ Hot chips has a fierce and loyal following as intense as its flavors. So much so, that we began to notice consumers naturally taking sides with their favorite brand and swearing their allegiance on socials. That gave us an idea – What if we pitted the Cheetos and Doritos fanbases against each other in the ultimate battle to crown the true king of Flamin’ Hot?

We began by announcing the release of two big LTO Flamin’ Hot flavor launches for each brand, then continued to add fuel to the fire through PR, paid media and organic social efforts. All consumers had to do was follow either Cheetos or Doritos on Instagram and engage with Flamin’ Hot Face Off posts for chances to win prizes. Fans could cast their vote for #TeamCheetos or #TeamDoritos simply by liking a post or entering to win exclusive brand merch drops.

In the end, consumers had gotten serious about picking a side: 899,252 votes cast, 67,977 new social followers and 357,855 social engagements between both brands with 2.5B total impressions.